Dancing on the Axis
by ILETUDRIVE
Summary: Sequel to my fic 90 Degrees Past Dead Center. This part features a lot more characters, and I'm broadening the story to factor in Ric's blackmail of Carly, Alexis pretending she's crazy, as well as other things. Try it, and reply.
1. Liver and Onions are no way to live

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Disclaimer: I get no money, my only hope is if those reading take pity on me and reply. The characters are owned by Capital Cities, ABC-TV and that god-awful show General Hospital.

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Distribution: Just ask me first.

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Notes: This is the sequel to my fic 90 Degrees Past Dead Center. This begins about a week after that one ended. There are some changes/variations from the show. Yes Ric did leave the hospital early, but no Elizabeth and him did not sleep together. As for Jason and Courtney you'll have to read to find out. This first part may be a little strident but it picks up.

Stephanie

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Dancing on the Axis 

Part I

Elizabeth made her way out of the kitchen of Kelly's and did her best not to smell the food that was loaded on her tray. Friday lunches were the absolute worst shift to have at Kelly's. The lunch special every Friday was liver and onions. Just thinking the name made her want to gag. It was hard for her to imagine anyone voluntarily wanting to eat the smelly and disgusting looking meal, but every Friday she was proved wrong. Friday lunches were the most popular meal of the week at the rundown diner. Catching a whiff she remembered her week old vow to get a new job, it was time to follow through with that plan.

After delivering the food she made a critical scan of the restaurant. Courtney seemed to be working for once and she was both surprised and relieved, it was always tiring when she was the only worker on a shift. The blonde in question emerged from the kitchen with a tray of her own and headed for the tables.

From where she was standing she could feel the arctic breeze coming off the blonde and barely stifled the urge to roll her eyes. Courtney could be rather juvenile at times. Moving behind the counter she began filling the sugar shakers. Courtney soon joined her and began working on the salt shakers. No words were exchanged. They had come to a sort of unspoken agreement not to discuss things at work, as such they barely said anything at all. Elizabeth was happy with agreement, it made work that much easier to get through.

Courtney seemed to have had enough with the agreement however, after she slammed the third shaker down Elizabeth reluctantly spoke. "Is there something wrong Courtney?"

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" Courtney sniped.

Tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, Elizabeth tried to hold her temper. "I just wondered if there was a reason why you were trying to break Bobbie's salt shakers."

"There's nothing wrong," Courtney shot back and slammed the glass shaker on the counter so hard it cracked. Infuriated at the salt spilling out from behind the glass she turned on Elizabeth with a triumphant smile on her face. "Jason and I are just fine. I'm sure you hate that."

Elizabeth shifted back to her own work and reminded herself not to rise to Courtney's obvious taunt. She'd only seen Jason once in the week since Ric's shooting, so she wasn't sure if he had told Courtney the truth or not. Given Courtney's surly disposition, she thought he had, but she couldn't say for sure.

"We broke up temporarily, because Sonny had problems with us dating, but Jason finally decided that what we had was worth fighting for and he quit working for Sonny," Courtney leaned closer. "You see I mean more to him than Sonny does."

"That's nice," Elizabeth murmured and reached for the next jar.

"You don't believe me?" Courtney snapped when she failed to get the reaction from Elizabeth she was looking for.

"What happens or doesn't happen between you and Jason is none of my concern," Elizabeth answered stiffly.

Narrowing her eyes in speculation Courtney looked at her rival with barely disguised hate. A week of avoiding Jason and hearing what he wanted to tell her had taken its toll. She was longing for a release and who better than the woman who was trying to wreck her life. "You really are pathetic you know that?"

Elizabeth set the sugar bottle down with a snap and turned on the blonde. "Watch it Courtney."

"What are you going to hit me again? Try it, just try it I dare you."

"What is your problem?" Elizabeth demanded. 

"You're my problem, the way you keep stalking Jason, stalking me, you just won't give up will you?"

"Get help Courtney," Elizabeth murmured and moved to go by the blonde, only to come up short when Courtney grabbed her arm. "Let me go."

"He told me all about it, how you accosted him on the docks, and begged him to take you back," Courtney tilted her head her tone mocking. "You are so pathetic. You know how Jason is, he doesn't want to hurt any woman if he can help it, but he couldn't help but tell me how sad you were that night."

Laughter escaped from Elizabeth and caused Courtney's face to go bright red.

"Don't you dare laugh at me," Courtney yelled.

"You need help Courtney, since Jason told you about our meeting on the docks, I'm sure he told you the rest as well. I'm sorry if your hurting but I won't stand by and be your punching bag because your fairytale life got a harsh dose of reality thrown on it," Elizabeth couldn't help but let that taunt out.

"You bitch," Courtney yelled. "You don't have a clue what your talking about, you can't even keep a man in your bed. Your fiancé cheated on you, with your own sister, Jason couldn't wait to walk away and find a real woman, and even Ric has a woman on the side."

"What did you say?" Elizabeth buried her anger over Courtney's taunt when the blonde's final words sunk in.

Courtney's eyes widened when she realized what she let out, and she took a step back and turned away. "That you can't hold on to any man."

"No you said something about Ric," Elizabeth grabbed Courtney by the elbow and yanked her around until they were facing each other again.

"What didn't you know that you've been replaced by another blonde?" Courtney couldn't help but attack and smiled venomously when she saw Elizabeth flinch. "That's right the more time he spent with you the more he couldn't wait to find a real woman to be with."

"You don't know what you are talking about," Elizabeth responded automatically yet her voice was weak.

"Yes I do, if there is one thing I know, its men and I know when they are bored," Courtney taunted.

"Who?" Elizabeth demanded. "If this is true who was he with?" 

"Does it matter? It wasn't you that's the main thing," Courtney replied breezily, not willing to sell out Carly.

As much as she didn't want too, Elizabeth couldn't help but remember the time she had practically thrown herself at Ric and he had turned her down and left. The reason couldn't be that he was seeing someone else could it? She didn't want to even think that, but she knew that Ric was very secretive, wasn't that one of the reasons that she had been keeping him at arms length?

"The truth hurt's doesn't it?" Courtney asked sweetly, pleased with the look she had managed to put in Elizabeth's eyes.

Without a word Elizabeth turned around and headed up the stairs, it was time to talk to Ric. Anger made the trip a short one, but her steps faltered as she neared the door. Did she have a right to demand answers from him? They had only gone out a couple of times, kissed barely a handful of times, it wasn't like they were exclusive, or even dating for that matter. He had made no effort to stand up for her in front of Carly, and other than when she was helping him after he was shot, he hadn't even mentioned it.

Hesitating in the hall, Elizabeth bit her lip and debated. The sound of a masculine voice eventually drew her from her thoughts and she realized that Ric's door was ajar. Her feet seemed to move closer of their own accord, while she focused on what he was saying.

"Relax neither Corinthos, or Morgan have any idea what is going on. They are so busy fighting each other they won't even realize what's happened until someone closes the coffin on them."

When his voice died Elizabeth moved closer desperate to hear what else was said.

"Carly is under control, you were right about what method I needed to use to control her. I have everyone completely in place. Trust me as soon as your ready Corinthos and Morgan are history, and personally I can't wait."

There was another pause as Ric listened to whoever was on the other end of the line and Elizabeth pushed slightly on the door, to try to see inside the room. Ric had his back to her and was nodding while he listened.

"Look I'm not being cocky I just know how good I am. If it comes to it I'm more than prepared to take Morgan out myself."

Elizabeth gasped and took a step back, it was time to get out of here. She had barely taken a step down the hall when the door was pulled open behind her and Ric was in the doorway looking at her.

"Elizabeth this is a surprise," his charming grin faded when he saw the paleness of her face and the hint of fear in her eyes. "You heard, didn't you?"

"What?" Elizabeth tried to bluff her way out. "I was just going to see if you wanted some lunch?"

Ric bowed his head and sighed wearily. "I'm real sorry you heard me Elizabeth."

"Heard what?" She asked and began edging backwards down the hall. She let out a startled yelp when Ric moved suddenly and caught her by the arms yanking her in the direction of his room. "Stop it."

"I'm afraid I can't let you go Elizabeth," Ric said with genuine regret.

"Hel…" her scream was cut off when Ric shoved her hard sending her into the room. Surprised by the violent move Elizabeth lost her balance and crashed heavily into the wooden desk that was in the room. She experienced a brief flash of pain and then everything went black.


	2. You've been a bad, bad, boy

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Notes: Please see the explanation on Part I, and please reply.

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Dancing on the Axis 

Part II

Ric stared down at Elizabeth with a horrified look on his face. He hadn't meant to hurt her, concerned he dropped to the floor beside her. His hand shook when he brushed the hair from her face and he knew he paled when he saw a faint trickle of blood coming from the corner of her head. When he determined she was breathing he quickly got to his feet and began to pace. 

"This is not good," he muttered under his breath. On one level he liked Elizabeth it was impossible not too. He had sought her out for one purpose only, but that didn't mean he was a monster, it didn't mean that he didn't feel something for her. In fact things would be so much easier if he didn't feel anything for her. But from the first moment he met her he had been having unsettling feelings for her, and now she was lying unconscious at his feet, and she had heard far too much for him to let it slide.

Desperate he moved to the phone and hit redial, he needed some guidance in this matter. Elizabeth was going to be brought into the plan eventually but it was too soon, all the pieces weren't in place yet. The phone on the other end went to voicemail letting out a curse he hung up the phone.

"What do I do?" He ran his hand through his hair and focused on Elizabeth again. He couldn't leave her on the floor. They needed to talk. With a groan he moved towards her and slid his hands under her shoulder and rolled her over. Squatting he put one arm under her legs, the other under her arm, stood, and couldn't help but wonder how light she felt in his arms when her head came to rest on his shoulder.

He was moving towards the bed when a brisk knock came from his door. "Shit." His eyes moved from the unconscious body he was holding to the closed door.

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"Courtney."

Grateful that her back was turned when she recognized the voice, she tried to mask her flinch, taking a deep breath she turned around slowly, giving herself time to change her expression from triumphant and gloating, to sad. "Hi Jason."

Seeing the misery on her face he couldn't help but feel bad but his resolve remained firm. "Do you have a minute? I need to talk to you."

"I'm kind of busy at the moment," Courtney looked around the deserted diner and bit back a curse. She wasn't ready to have this conversation with him.

"It's important Courtney," Jason's voice was serious yet firm, it was time to finish things once and for all. This last week had been an extremely long and frustrating one. If he didn't know better he would say that Courtney was deliberately avoiding him, but that made no sense. She couldn't know what he wanted to talk to her about.

Reluctantly Courtney stepped out from behind the counter and moved to a table, twisting the rag in her hands as she moved. Her mind raced ahead trying to figure out how to play this. She wasn't about to let him leave her, and she refused to let that bitch Elizabeth win. There had to be a way to solve this, there simply had to be. She wasn't used to having men reject her and she wasn't about to let Jason be the first.

"How have you been?" Jason asked when they were seated.

"Lonely, I miss you Jason, I miss us, and I also feel hurt, you walked away without a look back," she twisted the rag tightly around her finger causing her eyes to sting. "I'm not like you Jason, I can't turn my feelings off on a dime. I loved you when you walked away from me, and I love you now."

Seeing the tears made him feel even more uncomfortable. "I'm sorry I hurt you Courtney, more sorry than you know."

"You're miserable Jason I can see it on your face. I'm miserable too, and there's no reason for it. Sonny will come around he loves us too much not to, and even if he doesn't he has no right to keep us apart. It's time to end this agony," she begged, touching his hand, waiting for him to turn his over and clasp hers, but it remained palm down on the table.

Jason couldn't deny he was miserable, but it wasn't for the reason she thought and that made him feel even worse. Elizabeth was right, he had been incredibly unfair to Courtney for a long time now. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about Courtney, us."

Courtney's heart soared when she heard that word. He had missed her, and more importantly what they did together. "What about us?"

"There is no us Courtney, I'm sorry to say there never really was," he kept his eyes on her and watched the smile die from her face. If he ever had a doubt it was gone in that instant. As much as he hated hurting Courtney, hated putting that look in her eyes, that pain was nothing compared to the pain he always felt when he took Elizabeth's smile away. He quickly banished Elizabeth from his thoughts, now wasn't the time to think about her.

"What?" Confusion crossed her features. "Of course there is an us. The only reason we broke up at all was because of my idiot brother."

Jason blinked at the unexpected venom in her voice then shook it off. "Sonny was part of it, but we never would have broken up if there wasn't more to it than that. I called Sonny on his behavior last week, he gave me an ultimatum about you and then he fired me."

"Jason's that so great," Courtney cooed, "now there is nothing keeping us apart."

"Yes there is," he pulled his hand away from hers. "The thing keeping us apart is us," he took a breath. "Or make that me, I realized something after my meeting with Sonny. I realized that I don't love you Courtney."

"No," trying to hide her anger she shook her head fiercely. "I love you, you love me, its just Sonny that is putting these thoughts in your head, that's all. He ordered you to stay away from me, and you are trying to do that because you don't want to lose him."

"No Courtney," his voice was soft but firm. "I don't mean to hurt you but you deserve the truth. I should never have gotten involved with you in the first place, I was running away from my feelings for Elizabeth, and I used you to do it."

The rag she was twisting around her fingers tightened painfully and she embraced the pain to try to hold onto her temper. "Elizabeth? She's the reason you are saying this?"

"No, Elizabeth is not the reason. I'm saying this because it's true. I didn't know what I was doing, I only just figured it out."

"I bet you had help figuring it out," she sniped spitefully and got to her feet.

"I know you're hurting…."

"Hurting?" Courtney whirled on him. "Jason we've been together for months now, we've been fighting everyone to be together, and now that we can be together you say you don't love me? I say you're running all right, your running from me and the love we feel for each other."

"I don't love you Courtney. I never should have said I did," he corrected her instantly.

"Stop saying that," she yelled startling him. "This is all Sonny's doing. You are so determined not to lose your position as number one flunkie that you've convinced yourself you don't love me so you can stay his yes man."

This time the venom in her voice was impossible to ignore. "That's not what happened and you know it."

"I don't know anything, but that you told me you loved me, you took to me to bed, you bought us a place to meet, to stay, to plan our lives together, and now you're saying all of that was a lie?" She demanded moving closer. "I don't believe you Jason. Your afraid and you are doing what you always do when you are afraid you run and try to push that person out of your life. I saw you do that with Eliza…" she trailed off but the damage had been done.

"Exactly," he nodded at her words. "I was still running from her, from my feelings for her when I got involved with you. I was pushing Elizabeth away just like you said, and I used you to do it, but it didn't work. That wasn't fair to you and I'm sorry for hurting you. But I'm not going to go on like this anymore. The fact is I don't love you, and I never did," he tried to soften the blow. "But I do care for you."

Infuriated she simply reacted, slapping him hard across the face. "Do you really think your sainted bitch Elizabeth wants you back? She doesn't, she's upstairs in bed with her boyfriend while you're down here breaking my heart."

Jason's eyes automatically darted to the stairs before focusing on Courtney again. This was a side of her he had never seen before, and Elizabeth's words about her came back to him. "Your mad at me, not Elizabeth, don't drag her into this."

Incensed all the more over his defense of the bitch Courtney twisted the knife a little deeper. "That's right, she's moved on, she doesn't even care about you anymore. I didn't want to tell you, because I know how protective you are of Elizabeth. But she has been dating him for months now, and they don't exactly keep it a secret. Sometimes she disappears upstairs for hours, and when she comes back down…" she trailed off and smiled a bit viciously, "well you don't need a sign to spell out what they were doing upstairs."

Coldness entered his veins at her words and he tried to block them from his mind but they lingered. Unbidden the memory of her tending to Ric when he was shot came to him, and as much as he didn't want to think it, he couldn't help but remember all those times she had turned to Lucky and then to Zander. It wasn't unusual for her to turn to someone else. Besides she was a beautiful woman, who wouldn't want to be with her? But Ric?

"Don't you see, Elizabeth has moved on," Courtney moved closer and touched his hand drawing his focus to her. "You started moving on too, you're just fighting it. Don't fight it anymore Jason. Just give in, you know how good we are together," she stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his. "You know how good this feels," she reminded him before kissing him hard.

Surprised by her actions it took a second for him to step back and break the one-sided kiss. She moved after him and he caught her by the arms holding her in place. "Don't do this to yourself Courtney."

Jerking free of his hold she turned away from him trying to battle down her anger. If she lost it completely she would never get him back. Bowing her head she buried her face in the towel and her shoulders began to shake.

The coldness faded when he saw her begin to cry he took a step closer and held out a hand to comfort her, then let it drop. As much as she was hurting, it would be worse if he gave her false hope. That was a lesson he had learned the hard way with Carly. Stiffening his back he took a final look at the stairs and the darkness visible at the top before looking at Courtney again. "I am sorry I hurt you but it's better you know the truth."

Courtney barely held it together long enough to hear the door close, the towel muffled her scream of anger, then she turned around slowly, hoping he was watching her outside the door, but Jason was long gone. 

"That sonofabitch." She yelled and kicked a chair sending it crashing into the table and tipping the table over in the process. "She is not going to get away with this." Infuriated she moved to the base of the stairs and looked up them "Elizabeth you just pissed off the wrong person and believe me you are going to pay."

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"Carly, this is an unexpected surprise." Ric exclaimed when he opened the door. He shifted to bar her progress but the blonde had already breezed past him and into the room. He took a cautious look down the hall but didn't see a bodyguard anywhere. Closing the door he turned around to look at her.

Carly was frowning around the room, it had been years since she had been inside the room. It was difficult for her to recognize it as the room she had lived in when she had first come to Port Charles.

"Carly?" Ric prompted when she remained quiet.

"I've come to a decision Ric, and you're not going to like it," turning she crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a cold look. "I'm telling Jason everything, and I'm telling him today."

Ric felt his stomach drop to his knees but before he could say anything a noise coming from his closet caught his attention, he winced and waited.

"What was that?" Carly asked and made a move towards the closed closet door.


	3. For Those About to Rock We Salute You

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Remarks: Here's where things get interesting, so I hope you like it, please let me know.

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Dancing on the Axis

Part III

Disoriented Elizabeth opened her eyes, but everything remained dark. Confused she had an instant of panic over being blind and reached for her eyes, yet her hands refused to move above her waist. Confusion was quickly giving way to terror as she continued to try to move, it grew when she tried to speak and discovered she couldn't. Memories of her time in the crypt assailed her and she could feel her throat begin to close up on her stealing what little breath she was managing to find in her panicked state.

Twisting her head around trying to see through the dark, trying to find light, tears fell unchecked from her eyes and desperation took root. She was alone, in the dark, and she couldn't move. Her worse fear was coming true. Her secret fear, her unreasonable fear of being buried alive in the darkness took hold and in her frenzied state this was exactly what she thought had occurred.

Her body jerked wildly and she crashed heavily onto the floor, her eyes closed trying to stem the tears, trying to stem the panic. She wanted to keep them closed. Even though it was dark, this dark wasn't as scary as the dark when her eyes were open. It wasn't scary because it was supposed to be dark then. But if she opened her eyes and it was still dark she didn't know if she would be able to handle it.

Slowly, reluctantly, she forced her eyes open and if she had been able too, she would have screamed when her eyes registered a faint sliver of light that illuminated the dark. She focused on the light until the feeling of panic gradually receded and she felt more in control. Gradually she identified where she was. She was in a closet and the reason she couldn't move was because her hands and feet were bound independently and then loosely together. The cords around her wrists were tight on her wrists, yet somehow stretchy, they reminded her of bungee cords. She wasn't mute, either, something had been tied around her mouth allowing her to make muffled sounds only.

Ric.

His name came to her in a flash when a familiar scent of aftershave drifted from the clothes down to where she lay on the floor. Identifying who had tied her up, and put her in the darkness didn't scare her the way it should have, instead, it infuriated her. She was so tired of being wrong about men. Using the dim light coming from under the door she concentrated on the bonds around her wrists, determined to free herself and get out. Her movements stilled when the sound of voices finally penetrated her thoughts recognizing them she began to listen in earnest.

"Don't worry about the closet Carly," Ric moved quickly, intercepting her move towards the door.

"It sounds like someone is in there," Carly pointed out.

"I have an old bar that holds the clothes up, it must fall at least twice a day. I keep meaning to fix it, but I forget," he explained with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"I remember that," Carly murmured then focused on him in suspicion as a new thought came to her. "You are an attorney right?"

"You know I am."

"So why are you living in a room over a diner? Even the ambulance chasers can afford better digs then this."

Ric was surprised at the point blank question then realized he shouldn't have been, he knew Carly was nothing if not, blunt. "When I first came to town I didn't know if I would stay around or not, so I wasn't willing to sign a lease."

"I don't believe that. Since you've come to town you've had one goal as far as I can tell," keeping her accusation firm she studied his reaction. "Your goal has been to get in my husband's face every chance you got and you didn't care who you had to use to do it."

Ric smirked slightly. "There's nothing wrong with job hunting."

"There is with blackmail," she retorted angrily. She felt and had no qualms over accusing him of a behavior she had employed often in the past. This situation was different because this time it was her family that was being threatened.

"I don't recall any blackmail," he corrected smoothly. "I just told you how much I wanted to work with Sonny and how I wanted your help in paving the way."

"You did that by threatening me with a night I can't even remember," she reminded him tartly.

In the dark, in the closet Elizabeth stilled her struggles and tried to make sense of what she had just heard.

Ric shot a nervous look at his closed closet door, but other than the one noise, no sound had come from there, so Elizabeth was probably still unconscious. That meant it was safe to talk. "Carly you keep acting like you didn't want that night to happen. That makes no sense. You were the one who initiated things between us that night. I'm tired of being the bad guy here."

The words hit home and Carly couldn't help but flinch. As hard as she tried she couldn't remember that night, but the behavior he was describing sounded depressingly familiar. Because it _was_ so familiar, her hackles were raised and she lashed out. "I was drunk, so drunk that for the first time in my life I don't remember what happened after my first drink. I don't remember anything that happened with you until I woke up to your groping in the morning and couldn't get away from you fast enough."

Arrogance had him shaking his head and correcting her. "You were never resistant to me. In fact you were very eager."

"You were the one that was eager," Carly retorted. "Since you're dating that frigid prude Elizabeth Webber I don't blame you for wanting to be with a real woman even if she was too plastered to know your name."

In the closet Elizabeth let out a muffled mmmph and went to work on the bonds again. It seemed the inane Courtney was right, Ric had been with another woman. If possible her anger only increased upon finding out the identity of the woman.

Carly stormed past Ric and paused in front of the desk, infuriated with herself for letting herself get drawn in to debating whom was at fault she decided to get back to the reason for her visit. The decision she had made had been a hard one, it was made after weeks of thinking about it from every angle, and she wasn't about to change her mind now. "You might want to think about giving up your room."

"Why?" When she turned to face him he was uneasy at the catbird expression he saw in her eyes.

"Because I'm telling Jason everything, and believe me when I say you don't want to be in town when he finds out what you have been up too," she saw him pale and moved closer pressing her advantage. "Jason doesn't like you. He doesn't trust you, and he will have no problem dealing with you."

Ric realized that an already bad day had just turned horrific. Desperately he shook his head. "You don't want to do that."

"Want too? No," she agreed with a shake of her head and waited for his smile of relief before going on. "But I'm going too. Jason won't blame me, he doesn't do things like that. He loves me, and will protect me and my family from you." She hesitated then decided to use everything she had in her arsenal even if she hated it. "Another thing Jason won't like to hear is what you are doing with Elizabeth Webber. For some strange reason he has a soft spot for the twit, he isn't going to like the way you've been playing her."

That little fact was something he had been counting on, but hearing the confirmation of his hunch now, he didn't feel the thrill he thought he would, instead he felt decidedly nervous. "Carly," moving quickly he caught her arm when she headed for the door, and she quickly yanked her arm away. "Don't do this. Just help me get Sonny to hire me, and we'll never discuss things again."

"No. You are up to something Ric and it's not good. I won't let you hurt my family," she vowed. "I'm telling Jason everything and if he says or if I need too I will tell Sonny too, but either way you are finished in this town and finished with my family."

"If you tell, Sonny will call you a tramp and throw you out," Ric warned her.

"And he'll kill you," Carly retorted with a raise of her brow. "Sonny loves me, you'd be amazed at what he can forgive," she bluffed and at the same time desperately prayed that it was true.

"Don't do this to me," he begged.

"You did it to yourself with your agenda you brought to town." Carly moved for the door. "If I were you I'd leave town because the next time I see Jason I'm telling him everything."

Carly opened the door and was gone before he had taken more than a step after her. By the time he reached the door she was disappearing down the stairs. "Shit." He slammed the door hard enough that the pictures on the wall vibrated.

Turning over the events of the last hour in his mind he began to pace. How could things have fallen apart so quickly? Just this morning he had been right on schedule, no ahead of schedule, and now in the space of an hour, everything was close to blowing up in his face. What the hell was his boss going to say?

His eye fell on the phone, but he knew what would happen if he got a hold of the boss. He would be told to handle things himself and if he couldn't… Ric shuddered not wanting to finish that thought.

"I'll take care of things myself," his voice sounded weak to his ears so he cleared his throat and tried again. "Violence is never something I like to do but I can if the situation calls for it."

Habit had him moving to the closet and the gun he kept in a shoebox there. His hand closed on the knob and he opened the door slightly before remembering Elizabeth. Dropping his hand he stepped back. Violence with Carly was one thing, but he wasn't ready to consider the thought of hurting Elizabeth. There had to be a way for him to get out of things _without_ hurting her.

Moving back to his desk he opened a drawer and dug inside. "I knew this would come in handy eventually," he muttered when he unearthed what he was looking for. "I may have to thank Jason for leaving this in his penthouse, but I better wait, he's about to lose a friend."

Elizabeth peered through the new crack in the doorframe and her eyes opened wide in shock when she saw the gleaming switchblade in Ric's hands.

"Carly brought this on herself," Ric reminded himself, stepping back he glanced at the closet. "I'll be back soon Elizabeth," he murmured then headed out, closing the door firmly behind him.

Elizabeth sat frozen for a moment before she went back to working on her bonds with a desperation that was now borne of fear. Whether it took 5 minutes or more like the 5 hours that it felt like, her sweat covered wrists finally slid free of the bonds. Elizabeth quickly reached for the bonds on her feet then ripped the binding from her mouth and greedily sucked in air.

Getting to her knees she reached for the door handle and drew the door towards her. Blinking at the unexpected bright light she made her way to her feet. A wave of dizziness hit her and she staggered back into the clothes that were hanging there then back on the floor when the bar holding the clothes up broke.

Reaching up she brushed the clothes from her face and touched her forehead where the throbbing pain was coming from, when she drew her hand away her fingers were covered with blood. Ignoring the blood she reached down to push her way to her feet. Her right hand came down on something hard and cold, picking it up out of habit she got to her feet. The dizziness came again and she leaned on the doorjamb until it passed. Once it did she focused on the object in her hand and dimly registered it as a gun.

A part of her brain told her to drop the gun but instead of putting it down she tucked it in the pocket of her sweater and moved for the door. The thought of stopping Ric before he hurt Carly and possibly hurt her baby was the only thought in her mind. She moved like a robot down the stairs, the diner was deserted except for Courtney who was on the phone.

Hearing a noise on the stairs Courtney turned around, spying Elizabeth her mouth turned into a catty smile and she focused on the phone again. "Of course I'll bring home dinner," she paused, "I love you too Jason."

The sound of Jason's name made Elizabeth come to an abrupt halt at the bottom of the stairs. Latching onto his name she moved to the counter to get the phone, she had to warn him about Ric, and she had to do it now. "Give me the phone Courtney," she ordered holding out her hand for the phone.

Startled by the vehemence of the request Courtney focused on Elizabeth and belatedly noticed the blood on her forehead. The flash of concern was short-lived, however, and vanished when Elizabeth reached for the phone. Stepping back Courtney quickly hung up on the telemarketer, and smiled slightly at Elizabeth. "He doesn't want to talk to you, haven't you learned that by now?"

Elizabeth brushed past Courtney and picked up the phone. The first three numbers came to her quickly but then her mind went blank. A number she had called for years, a number she had memorized in 1999, a number that had never failed to thrill her when she saw it on her caller id, was suddenly gone from her memory. "What's his number?" Turning she demanded the information from Courtney.

Courtney couldn't believe her luck. Crossing her arms over her chest she smiled sweetly. "It's unlisted."

"This is important Courtney, give me his damn number," Elizabeth yelled surprising the blonde and making her already throbbing head, pound even harder.

"No."

With a muttered oath Elizabeth moved past her and towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Courtney trailed Elizabeth. "You're not off for another two hours." When Elizabeth kept moving she reached out and grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving.

Elizabeth didn't even think, merely reacted, spinning swiftly she caught an unprepared Courtney off-guard with a hard slap to the cheek. Courtney let go of Elizabeth and staggered back. Ignoring Courtney's stunned sputters Elizabeth exited the diner and headed for the docks.

Moving automatically Elizabeth wasn't certain where she was going. All she knew was she either had to find Jason, find Carly, or find Ric and she had to do it soon, because she had a horrible feeling that something awful was about to happen. She was nearing Bannister's Wharf and was about to move towards the rebuilt Corinthos/Morgan warehouse when something at the end of the dock caught her attention. The blonde was instantly recognizable as Carly, but what worried her was the man moving up behind the as yet unaware Carly, recognizing Ric Elizabeth changed direction and headed for the other dock.

What happened next she knew would haunt her forever. It seemed as if everything was moving in slow motion, even her breathing which sounded so loud and ragged to her ears, seemed slow somehow. She had no conscious memory of pulling the gun from her pocket but suddenly it was in her hand.

Too slow, that's all Elizabeth could think. She watched Ric reach in his pocket, she saw a glimmer of silver reflected from the sun as he stepped up behind a still unaware Carly and raised his hand. Did she scream out a warning? She didn't know, she didn't remember anything but the sound of the gunshot as it rang out over the docks.

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Any suggestions as to where I go from here????


	4. It's such a pity

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Babble: See the blather on Part I for all the usual verbiage. Not much more to add, except Reply please!!!!!!!

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Dancing on the Axis

Part IV

The rumble of sound had barely faded from his ears when he recognized it. It may have been years but once heard, the distinctive sound of a gunshot was impossible to forget. Without consciously being aware of it, he began to move quickly in the direction the shot had come from. He was soon at the stairs leading to the docks, heading down them he froze on the second step from the bottom and tried to make since of the unfathomable tableau before him.

Elizabeth was holding a gun, her whole body was shaking violently but the gun was extended, her arms still locked in a firing position. His eyes shifted, registering the body of a man on the ground near the edge of the docks writhing in apparent agony. A scream pierced the air and compelled him to move. Bypassing his longtime friend for the moment he raced to the edge of the docks and the screaming person. 

"Hold on," Nikolas Cassadine ordered, leaping over the now unconscious man he dove for the hands that were the only visible part of the person hanging from the edge.

"Help me," Carly screamed. She could feel her strength ebbing. Her arms were burning and a part of her was amazed that she had held on as long as she had. Another part of her was determined to hang on all damn day if she had too. She would do anything to save her child. "Please help me."

By now Nikolas was flat on the docks his hands covering her wrists trying to firm up the support. Desperate brown eyes met his and recognition flittered quickly through his brain. His stomach lurched when he remembered the fact that Carly was pregnant. He was now in the uncomfortable position of fighting to save two lives. "I have you."

"Get me out of here," Carly tried to order but the words were weak as her strength continued to fade. Now that she knew she wasn't alone what reserves she had been drawing on seemed to be depleted. A sickening illustration of that fact came when her left hand lost its purchase on the docks causing her to scream.

"Grab my wrist Carly," Nikolas ordered sharply.

"Don't let my baby die."

"Grab it now," he yelled.

It seemed to Carly that his hand was so very far away, the wind was buffeting her, and made her miss when she reached for him causing her to scream again. Gritting her teeth she reached up again and missed. Nikolas could already feel the strain of trying to hold her up with only one hand. Gravity was such a vicious thing. Finally Carly managed to latch onto his wrist, and some of the tension eased.

"Now I need you grab my other hand."

Carly didn't want to let go of the dock. As long as she was holding the dock she didn't have to rely completely on Nikolas, but once she let go both her and her baby would be relying on him. It took everything inside of her to finally let go and grab for his wrist. This time it was easier and she caught him on the first attempt. "Don't you let my baby die," she hissed.

"Neither one of you will die." Nikolas gasped out in response before beginning the laborious process of inching backwards on the dock and pulling her over the side. Already his arms were burning. He had no idea how she had held on as long as she had. Where was everyone? Why wasn't anyone else helping? He wanted to call out for help, but that would require energy he didn't want to waste. 

"When you can I want you to shift your grip and use my body as a ladder and pull yourself up." Her terrified eyes locked on his again. "I won't let you fall, but you have to help me."

Grunting her affirmance Carly prepared herself to do as he said. He was her lifeline, her baby's lifeline, and there was no way she was going to let go of him.

It seemed like forever for both of them and both were panting heavily by the time Carly finally found herself on the docks again and felt the security of the wood beneath her stomach even as her legs continued to dangle over the edge. Finally those too were safe on the docks. Incredibly drained Carly remained where she was sprawled, half on Nikolas, half on the docks while she thanked a God she didn't always believe in. Nikolas shifted her gently until she was lying flat on the docks and tried to catch his breath.

"What the hell?" A just arrived Jason Morgan exclaimed and headed quickly down the stairs. Once down he was torn at which way he should go. Carly, a pregnant Carly was lying on the docks, while a shaken Elizabeth was pointing a gun in her direction.

The chattering of Elizabeth's teeth and the shaking gun in her hand made up his mind for him and he moved cautiously to her side, not wanting to startle her. "Elizabeth?" He tried her name to get her attention but there was no response, not even a flicker or recognition in her glazed blue eyes. Taking his eyes from her empty once he looked to his friend. "Carly are you okay?"

The concern in his voice roused Carly. "We're okay." She called out rubbing her belly with her hands trying to reassure herself.

Relieved Jason turned his focus back to the woman in front of him. "Elizabeth?" He waved his hand in front of her eyes but there was no reaction. He recognized the signs of shock and knew he had to move quickly, but there was still the gun to deal with.

"Elizabeth I need you to give me the gun." He kept his voice low but strong and slowly reached up to take the gun. His eyes registered the dried blood that was visible under her bangs as well as the still forming bruise on her temple. Cataloging her injuries for a later time his hands closed over her ice-cold ones that still held the gun. His move to take the gun from her caused her to snap back, a spark of life entered her eyes and her grip tightened on the gun. "Elizabeth give me the gun," he tried again.

"I-I killed him." The words were spoken through her still chattering teeth and were difficult to understand.

"You don't know that." Jason kept his hands around hers and tried to soothe her even as he heard the approaching sound of sirens. He had to get the gun and her away from here _before_ the cops showed up.

"I had too." Thoughts, images kept hitting her and the explosion of the shot was still ringing in her ears making it difficult for her to think at all. "He was going to kill Carly. I couldn't let that happen."

"Of course you couldn't," Jason agreed and again tried to take the gun from her. "I need the gun Elizabeth."

"Is Carly okay?" Elizabeth shifted trying to see around Jason but Jason moved as well blocking her view.

"She's fine." The sound of sirens was so loud he knew he only had a minute or two to act. "Give me the gun."

"I didn't want to kill him," Elizabeth kept her hold on the gun. "I just wanted to stop him, but Courtney … I couldn't find … he had a knife … the baby … I had to stop him … Carly didn't know … I didn't want to kill him but I had too." Her voice rose then broke. "I had to shoot," she repeated despondently.

Jason finally managed to get the gun away from her. Before he could shift his grip from the barrel to the handle to try to blur the fingerprints a man's voice called down to them.

"I'll take that."

Even without looking Jason knew it was a cop. He could recognize the tone cops had anywhere. His features never flickered even as he cursed internally.

"Give me the gun."

Sighing slightly Jason handed the gun over butt first to the man who took it with a handkerchief. Jason didn't recognize this particular cop. He was a plainclothes one but the gold shield flipped over the sport jacket pocket indicated a Detective First Grade.

The Detective in question examined the gun briefly, even going so far as to smell the barrel for the residue of recently fired gunpowder before handing it off to a waiting uniform who bagged it for evidence, before turning to focus on Elizabeth. "Did I hear you admit to the shooting?"

"She's in shock she doesn't know what she is saying," Jason interjected drawing the attention back on himself.

"When I want to hear from you Mr. Morgan I'll ask. Until then do what you are famous for and keep your mouth shut," the Detective rebuked him mildly.

Jason chafed under the admonishment and had to hide a wince when Elizabeth spoke again.

"I-I didn't want to shoot him. I don't want to be a killer."

"You're not a killer," the Detective responded smoothly, "the victim is still alive, so you are not a killer," he paused until the glass blue eyes focused on him, "yet."

What little strength she still had seemed to evaporate at his words and Elizabeth crumpled to the ground. Jason made a move in her direction only to come up short when the Detective waved him off and gestured to one of his patrolmen.

"Did you witness the shooting Mr. Morgan?" He queried.

Jason didn't answer and again made a move in Elizabeth's direction.

"Now is the time you get to answer," the Detective prodded. Taking Jason by the arm he drew him away from Elizabeth. "Did you witness the shooting?"

"No," Jason answered finally.

"Pity," the Detective clucked.

~*~*~

Carly watched the ambulance attendant nervously. The pier was now full of people. Other techs were working on Ric, Nikolas was off to the side, she dimly heard Jason being questioned by a cop and was even marginally aware of Elizabeth being moved to a bench by the police. But none of that really registered to her, the only thing that mattered was what the tech was doing. "Well?" she demanded impatiently and almost snarled when he held up his hand to silence her while he listened.

"Your baby's heartbeat sounds fine Mrs. Corinthos, well within range for how far along you are. We'll do a complete check once we get you to the hospital, but I think everything is fine," the tech pronounced finally and began putting his equipment away.

Nearly collapsing in relief over the fact that her baby wasn't hurt, she took her first easy breath since this whole nightmare began. The relief soon sharpened into interest in what was going on around her. "Thanks," she offered Nikolas a smile.

"I'm just glad that you and your baby are going to be okay." Nikolas replied with a brief answering smile before his attention shifted to focus on a discussion going on farther up on the dock.

Following his gaze her smile faded when she saw an unusual look of frustration on Jason's face. He normally didn't let his frustration show when he was talking to the cops, unless of course he was yelling at her at the same time. This was not a good sign. She began to make her way to her feet and was caught by surprise when Nikolas moved quickly and helped her to her feet. Manners could definitely be a good thing, she determined in that instant, then decided to use some. "Thanks."

Nodding absently Nikolas kept his focus on Elizabeth and the police that were talking to her. "What do you think is going on over there?"

"The usual. The cops are trying to figure out a way to pin the shooting on Jason even though Miss Muffet over there was the one with the gun," was Carly's caustic reply.

"Did you see what happened?" Nikolas ignored the barb as he tried to figure out how much damage control Elizabeth was going to need. It was strange how quickly he fell back into the role of pseudo-protector of Elizabeth. They hadn't spoken in months. Hadn't been close friends for even longer, but at that moment, all the dissension between the two seemed to have vanished. He found himself back in the position of wanting to help and protect her, much as he had when he had first gotten to know her, and later when Lucky had "died."

Before Carly could answer an obviously angry Jason joined them. Habit had Carly pulling him into a hug, both to reassure herself, he had always been her grounding influence, and also to try to soothe him.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jason asked in concern, he had long since grown used to Carly's proclivity of hugging him.

"The tech says the baby is fine, so I'm great. They are bringing us to the hospital for a more in depth check, but other than sore arms and scrapes on my hands I'm fine." Carly reassured him and saw the look of disbelief flitter across his features. "I don't always complain," she reminded him defiantly.

"What's going on over there?" Nikolas gestured to the cops who were surrounding Elizabeth.

Jason eyed the Prince coolly but didn't answer. Irritated Nikolas stepped closer and faced off with Jason.

Realizing that she owed Nikolas one Carly intervened. "So what happened to Miss Muffet? Did she really shoot Ric?"

The warning look he gave Carly did no good and he knew he had to reply. "Yes she shot him. But she says Ric has a knife and was trying to kill you. She shot him to save your life."

Carly shook her head denying his words automatically. That couldn't be right. Ric had been angry about her decision to tell Jason everything, but not angry enough to try to kill her. He knew she was pregnant, he wouldn't have done anything to harm the baby, no one would. Jason or rather Elizabeth had to be wrong. They had to be.

"Did you see a knife?" Jason asked.

Again Carly shook her head. "I heard a scream, then the gunshot. The next thing I knew something heavy crashed into the back of me and I fell. The momentum carried me over the edge. I hung on there until Nikolas pulled me up."

Hearing how close Carly had come to possibly dying gave Jason pause and he closed his eyes in reaction, they flew open again only a second later and he began scanning the ground.

Nikolas was the first to figure out Jason's unexpected action. "Looking for a knife?" When Jason nodded he went on. "Don't bother there isn't one, unless its underneath Ric and since the paramedics already rolled him that's out," Nikolas shrugged defensively when they both stared at him. "I had time to look around before the paramedics arrived."

Disappointed Jason ran a weary hand over his cheek, without a knife it would be more difficult for Elizabeth to back up her story. Shifting he focused again on the unknown Detective who was now speaking to the paramedics treating Ric. The cop was good. Jason had enough experience with both good and bad cops to realize the Detective was smart and determined, and worse he was an unknown. Unbelievably he almost wished for Taggert. At least Taggert knew Elizabeth and what she was capable of.

The Detective crouched closer to a now conscious Ric and the three watching him grew quiet trying to hear what was being said. The paramedics continued their work, and the noise they were making quickly made them realize that eavesdropping was going to be impossible.

Realizing this fact Nikolas spoke again. "Did the police appear to believe what Elizabeth was saying?"

There was a shrug from Jason but no answer, and Nikolas began to get angry. "You have been around enough police that you have to be an expert at reading them by now. Did they believe her or not?"

"She's in shock. It's difficult for a person to form a coherent lie when they are in shock." Answering more to shut Nikolas up than out of a desire to share information he went on. "The Detective is hard to read, he's good, but that doesn't mean he's smart."

"And with no knife, no witnesses, and Carly not seeing a knife, it will be uncomfortable for Elizabeth won't it?" Nikolas asked pointedly drawing a surprised look from Carly and another shrug from Jason. How in the world did Elizabeth talk to him? Jason's vocabulary seemed to be very limited.

The Detective had moved to the officer who was standing near Elizabeth doing a paraffin test on her hands to check for gunshot residue. That conversation was even quieter than the others had been, and Jason began to get uneasy.

"Tell me you at least got rid of the gun," Nikolas implored.

A glare and a terse shake of the head were the only response he got.

"Jason the very least I thought you knew how to do was to destroy evidence at a crime scene. This wouldn't be the first time in your career that you've removed a gun, of that I'm sure. So why didn't you this time?" Nikolas demanded.

"There wasn't enough time."

Nikolas' snort was somehow an eloquent statement of disbelief and the tension between the two men shot up another level.

"Something is happening," Carly broke up the testosterone fest by pointing at the cops.

The three fell silent when the Detective approached. "Mrs. Corinthos I believe the ambulance is ready to transport you to the hospital now. I know you gave a preliminary statement to the officer but I would like you to come to the station to give a formal statement," he smiled charmingly, "once your finished at the hospital of course."

The charm bounced off of Carly and ignoring Jason's shake of the head she responded coldly. "I'll come by with my attorney when I can. But it probably won't be until tomorrow at the earliest."

The Detective ignored her response for the moment and turned to the others. "Mr. Cassadine I believe you told the officer that you weren't sure who fired the gun…"

"That's correct," Nikolas interrupted. "I heard the shot and ran to the pier. Once I arrived my focus was on pulling whoever was over the side, back up on the pier. That person turned out to be Mrs. Corinthos. I wasn't aware of anyone besides Carly, and the unconscious man on the pier."

"So you claim you didn't see Elizabeth Webber holding a gun?" The Detective pressed.

"I am not claiming anything, I am merely stating the facts as they occurred. I believe that is what I am supposed to do when questioned by the police," Nikolas lied easily.

Jason knew Nikolas was lying and unfortunately he thought the Detective did as well, but he doubted that anyone would be able to prove the Prince was lying. The response being offered by Nikolas was a good one. If they could keep Elizabeth quiet, and with no witnesses, she could later claim that she found the gun immediately after the shooting. He knew there had been instances where there was still gunshot residue on a gun after firing and that residue was then transferred to the person who found the gun, even though they hadn't fired it. It was tricky and the time elapsing from when the shooting occurred and when they would say she picked up the gun would have to be less than a minute, but it could be argued. If that happened her early statements could be dismissed due to confusion and shock. It was a plausible scenario, now all they had to do was to keep Elizabeth quiet until he could explain it to her.

"I'll need you to come to the station to make a formal statement to that effect Mr. Cassadine." The Detective then turned to Jason. "You too Mr. Morgan."

"Where are you taking Elizabeth?" Nikolas asked when the cop next to her began to lead her from the docks.

"To the station for further questioning," the Detective's hawk eyes were trained on Jason but there was no visible response to his words.

"She needs to go to the hospital not the police station. She is in shock. Witnessing a shooting is a very stressful thing to live through, she doesn't need to be inundated with questions at the same time," Nikolas contended. "I'm sure there is no possible reason why you can't take her statement tomorrow morning after she has rested and recovered from this horror that she went through tonight."

Carly realized at that point that Nikolas was capable of thinking as deviously as she did.

"I'm afraid that is impossible Mr. Cassadine. I need to question Miss Webber tonight, she has some fairly serious charges that she needs to answer."

Jason could feel the air thicken and waited for the other shoe to drop. The Detective obviously had something new, and whatever it was Jason had a feeling it wasn't going to be good for Elizabeth.

"What charges?" Nikolas queried.

The Detective focused on Carly Corinthos as he delivered his answer. "Mr. Lansing has stated that Miss Webber was trying to kill _you_ Mrs. Corinthos, and he took the bullet trying to save your life. Where I come from we call that attempted murder."


	5. Questions, questions and more questions

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Surprise: This one is being pulled out of cold storage as well.

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Things to Remember:

This story is set about a week and a half after Catherine's wake.

Carly is pregnant, barely showing and everyone knows.

Elizabeth and Ric have never slept together.

Sonny things Jason quit over his ultimatum regarding Courtney _(He didn't see 90 Degrees Past Dead Center)_.

Alexis is faking her illness and is in the hospital because of Luis Alcazar. Lorenzo Alcazar is not in town … yet.

Lucky is getting entangled with Summer.

Stefan and Emily have not returned to town yet.

I just wanted to remind you of the Port Charles landscape that this fic is set in. Before I blow it all to hell that is.

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Plea: Please let me know what you think.

Stephanie

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Dancing on the Axis

Part V

~P.C.P.D.~

Jails were noisy, dingy places. The bright fluorescent artificial lighting always bothered her. The light cast off the skin in such a way that it washed a person out enough they could pass for an extra in a zombie movie. Not that she was an aficionado of zombie movies, but no person should ever be that waxy or bug-eyed.

Elizabeth tried to shake the image her mind was creating away, but it was impossible. Morbid seemed to be the driving force of the day. It made sense didn't it? After all she was in the jail because she had killed a man. Jail was the place for murderer unless of course you were a sports celebrity, which she wasn't, so she was where she belonged.

"He's not dead," she whispered aloud then quickly looked around to see if anyone had heard. Her actions were ridiculous, she knew she was alone in the room. But the room may be bugged. At least rooms like this were always bugged in the movies or on TV. Bugged so they could pick up every utterance the suspect made. The suspect being she at the moment. She was probably being watched as well. The wall with the mirror was a dead giveaway. Again this was to observe the suspect like a bug under the microscope. It was always amusing to watch on TV but now that she was the bug she didn't find it that amusing.

She'd been in this room before, but that had been under vastly different circumstances. That time she had been the victim reporting a crime. This time she was the accused. This time she was in the dingy room because she had shot Ric Lansing in the back. Elizabeth didn't think she'd be quite so scared if it wasn't for one thing … she was guilty.

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~G.H. E.R. Exam Room 1~

"Are you sure the baby is okay?" Carly Corinthos demanded for the fifth time in fifteen minutes.

"You saw the sonogram yourself, you heard the heartbeat," Doctor Ramsey explained with more patience than he was feeling at the moment. The patience came with the knowledge of who his patient was. He wasn't about to get on the wrong side of the mafia, he had enough trouble on his hands without that. "Your baby seems no worse for the wear because of your near fall into the depths of the Port Charles River."

Relieved Carly kept her hand protectively on the slight protruding mound of her stomach. She couldn't hear the confirmation that the baby she was carrying was fine enough to make her feel secure. She needed to calm down though. She had no doubt Sonny would be here soon and if she looked the slightest bit concerned she could count on being stuck in the hospital for the night and that was the last thing she wanted. All she wanted was her home, her own bed, and to smother Michael in a hug.

"The nurse will be in to finish bandaging that cut on your arm and then you're free to go home."

When the doctor headed out the door Carly could finally let herself bend. It wouldn't do for her bitch reputation if she let her fear show. Letting fear show was for wimps, for victims, she wasn't about to let herself be a victim ever again.

Looking around the small cubicle Carly was reminded of how she had gotten there. Someone had either tried to kill her, or tried to kill Ric Lansing and that someone was goody-goody-muffin-face Elizabeth Webber. The idea of Elizabeth having the guts to shoot someone was laughable. She'd held a gun once on A.J. the person she loathed the most in the world. She'd been prepared to kill him because he had caused her miscarriage yet in the end she hadn't been able to pull the trigger. Elizabeth had been able too. Even worse she'd admitted pulling the trigger to the cops. Which, if you asked her, wasn't a smart move on her part.

Getting up to pace the small cubicle Carly tried to process the last few hours. Ric had told the police that Elizabeth had been aiming a gun at her and Ric had taken the bullet to save her and her baby. According to Jason, Ric had a knife and was trying to kill her so Elizabeth had shot him to save her and her baby. Both stories sounded out there. Ric was a liar, a blackmailer but did that mean he was also a killer?

And what about Elizabeth? Elizabeth always pretended to be one of those bread and butter won't melt in my mouth types. But Carly knew better. Elizabeth enjoyed fighting with her too much to be as innocent as she tried to snow people into believing. But did that mean Elizabeth was a killer? They'd argued recently but they always argued so there was nothing new there. Why would Elizabeth suddenly go postal and try to kill her? Or if it was true Ric was trying to kill her would he try again? If he survived that is.

Carly's pacing came to a halt where it began and she sank back down on the hospital bed. Who was she to believe? If Elizabeth was right about Ric's actions she was in a world of trouble. It meant his agenda was worse than she'd thought and whatever that agenda was he'd kill to finish it. If Ric was to be believed Elizabeth had snapped and decided to kill her. Closing her eyes, she groaned. Thinking about this was going to give her a headache.

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~Waiting Room~

"Is someone here for Ric Lansing?" Bobbie Spencer paused in the hospital doorway. A man of about 35, with dark blonde hair, stood up and headed her way. Seeing him, responding to his youthfulness and his good looks, vanity had her pulling the surgical cap off of her head.

"I'm Lieutenant Ross," the man held open a badge. "Can you tell me anything about Lansing?"

"We were able to extract the bullet. He lost a lot of blood but we had enough of his type on hand to transfuse him. Doctor Quartermaine expects him to make a full recovery."

"Do you know when I can speak to him? I need to get his statement regarding the shooter."

"Tomorrow morning at the earliest, he's being moved to recovery now, but he probably won't be awake for another 6 or 7 hours." Weariness had her shoulders drooping. Vanity didn't stand a chance against 12 hours straight in the operating room.

Ross nodded in dismissal. Between now and then he'd have time to dig into the world of Elizabeth Webber.

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~P.C.P.D.~

Jason had always hated the police station. The dislike had been there since the very beginning when Detective Garcia had arrested him for train surfing. At the time he had been amused by the experience but the amusement didn't lessen his dislike for the atmosphere in the jail. That dislike hardened into hate when the cops had called the Quartermaine's over his objection. The P.C.P.D. had begun to remind him of being trapped in the hospital. He had the feeling of being put on display in a place that he couldn't leave. He developed a healthy apathy for the P.C.P.D. As the years passed and he spent more and more time in jail his apathy grew. Things had changed over time but his first impression of jail always lingered in his memory whenever he was in the facility.

This time was no different, he still had those familiar feelings only this time it was worse. Worse because this time he wasn't here for him he was here for Elizabeth. Watching her sit in the interrogation room wasn't right. She didn't belong there, she belonged outside, or in her studio, anywhere but here.

"You realize you're growling don't you?" A placid faced Nikolas Cassadine asked.

Shifting his eyes briefly he gave Nikolas a fulminating glare that the other man gave no reaction to. This Nikolas wasn't the hothead he had dealt with on other occasions but that didn't change the fact that he was there when Jason wanted him to leave. "You've given your statement you can go anytime."

"So can you," Nikolas pointed out.

Ignoring him Jason turned his focus back to the interrogation room where Elizabeth was sitting. They hadn't closed the blinds yet and for that he was grateful. He was relieved to see she wasn't handcuffed. Although she'd been brought to the station for questioning she hadn't been arrested … yet. It was the yet that bothered him. The yet and the officer they had watching the door.

The fact that Haggerty, the officer in question, was on Sonny's payroll didn't mean a damn when his sole purpose of being in his sight at the moment was to keep Elizabeth in the room. The thought had crossed his mind that he was the reason there was a guard on the door. Elizabeth by herself didn't warrant the attention when she wasn't even under arrest. Cops it seemed had long memories and although Garcia, Taggert and Mac were nowhere in sight someone had remembered the time he'd picked a fight with Mac in order to help Brenda escape custody.

"Do you think you should stay?"

Nikolas' question drew him from his thoughts. "What?"

"I know you and Elizabeth haven't been getting along. Would she want you here? Especially when your presence could only hurt her standing with the cops." Nikolas kept his tone bland even when Jason's glare rose another level.

"When was the last time you had a conversation with Elizabeth?"

The dart hit Nikolas hard and this time it was he that turned his focus on the interrogation room. Elizabeth hadn't really spoken to him in months. Not since she found out the truth about the car accident a truth that he'd hidden from her. Their relationship had already been strained over his keeping Lucky's lack of feeling for her during the wedding that wasn't, that when the car accident happened things had ricocheted out of control.

He'd apologized profusely to her on several different occasions and in several ways, but always with the same qualification, he had been protecting Gia. It was ridiculous and he knew it. Elizabeth never would have said anything about Gia to the cops, he knew it, and so did Elizabeth. Was it any wonder that Elizabeth had yet to forgive him? And probably wouldn't until he admitted the real reason he'd lied and manipulated her.

The real reason he'd lied wasn't to protect Gia it was because of his need to stay in control. Since all that had happened with his Grandmother and his father's miraculous return from the dead, control had been slippery for him. As such his need to control every aspect of his life and the actions of other people in his life ended up costing him everything. Gia was gone and he knew he'd never get her back. Emily, his oldest friend was who knows where, since he hadn't seen her after her accident she had been hurt enough not to keep in touch with him. Lucky was … Lucky. He was keeping secrets again, and acting a little strange, but Nikolas was beginning to think that was just how Lucky behaved now. Elizabeth wanted nothing to do with him either.

His behavior had forced the people he cared about the most from his life. As horrible as Elizabeth's situation was, he wasn't about to leave her. If helping her helped fix things between them he was in it for as long as it took. Even if it didn't fix their relationship, he'd still be there because of the important spot she would always have in his life. Besides if he left she'd have no one … no one but Jason that is, and that wasn't a pleasant thought for him.

****

~*~*~*~

Elizabeth had been in the room long enough that the glare from the lights no longer hurt her eyes. She'd also calmed down. Her initial panic was fading much like the shock over shooting someone had eventually passed. She didn't believe she'd ever forget the rumbling sound the gun had made or the way it had jumped in her hands as she fired, but she gradually realized she could live with the memory she could live with herself. She'd had no choice but to shoot Ric. If she hadn't both Carly and her baby could be dead.

Ric. She couldn't help but grimace when she thought of the man she'd halfway been getting involved with. Had she ever really known him at all? How could she have misjudged him so badly that she couldn't pick up the signs that he was capable of killing someone?

__

So are you.

The traitorous little voice reverberated in her head, Uncomfortable she shifted in her chair. Ric wasn't dead hopefully he wouldn't die, she really didn't want him dead. Even if he didn't die she still couldn't count on him to get her out of this mess with the police. After all it was his fault she was here. The police hadn't found a knife. Somehow she doubted Ric would voluntarily admit to trying to kill a pregnant woman. Carly would…

"Carly."

Her thought pattern screeched to a halt as the memory of the conversation she had overheard between Ric and Carly while she was in the closet began to play in her head. Details, ideas, even denials were falling together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and the picture that was emerging wasn't a pretty one.

Carly had one drink with Ric and didn't remember anything until she woke up the next morning with Ric groping her. She'd had one drink at a rave and didn't remember a thing until she woke up with Lucky the next morning in her studio. Emily had a drink at a rave and remembered nothing until she woke up lying next to a dead body. Emily and her experience had been similar because they had both been drugged. Carly's story sounded pretty familiar as well. She'd seen Carly drink before. One drink wouldn't bring on a blackout, not unless there was more than alcohol in it.

Another piece of the puzzle began to fit. Carly had woken up with a man with no clue how she had gotten there. Carly was now pregnant. And the man who'd been blackmailing her had just tried to kill her to shut her up. Could Ric be the father of Carly's child? Instinctively she shook her head. There was no way Ric would try to kill his own child or would he?

What about Sonny? From the sounds of it he didn't know about Carly's run-in with Ric. What would he do when he found out? What would that mean for Carly? More importantly what would that mean for the baby she was carrying. Carly was someone she didn't like and never would, and yet she couldn't help but remember the night Carly had lost her baby. After comforting Sonny she had stayed around to get her cut treated. She didn't know why but she'd been drawn to I.C.U. she had arrived in time to hear Carly's reaction to the loss of her child. Until that moment, until that wail of denial that had been ripped out of Carly, she hadn't known the blonde had been capable of feeling that much for anyone besides herself.

Now Carly was pregnant again, and even though they didn't get along Elizabeth didn't want to see a baby get caught up in this mess. It wasn't the baby's fault it's mother was a head-trip. A baby shouldn't be punished for being born, but she had the uncomfortable feeling that would be the case if Carly's secret came out.

"Ms. Webber."

The door opened and two police officers entered. One was in plainclothes the other in a uniform. Neither one of them were cops that she recognized.

"I'm Lieutenant Ross," the plainclothes officer took a seat across from her. "I need to ask you some questions about murder."

Gasping for breath her eyes filled at the word murder.

"I'm sorry," Ross, noted her reaction. "I guess I should have said attempted murder." Reaching out he pressed the record button on the tape recorder sitting between them on the table and read her, her rights for the record.

Following his movements with her eyes and half listening to the words Elizabeth was struck with a sense of longing for Taggert or Garcia. She'd gladly have borne their well-meaning lecture on who she chose to hang around with if it meant they would be the one in the room questioning her. The cop in front of her had cold assessing eyes, eyes that she didn't like. Normally she didn't make snap judgments but with him she couldn't help herself.

"Why don't you take it from the beginning?" Ross invited in a tone that was an order.

After a long hesitation Elizabeth began to speak. A part of her didn't know what was going to come out of her mouth, she could only pray that it was good enough to get her out of this mess. "I was working at Kelly's Diner. I had the 9-3 shift. By 1:30 the crowd had died enough I decided to go up and check on Ric."

"That would be Ric Lansing the victim?"

Flinching at his description she nodded.

"Why would you check on him?"

"He'd been shot a week or so before. I got in the habit of checking on him, bringing him food, things like that." Elizabeth explained relieved that she could tell the truth at least for the moment.

"Go on," Ross ordered while making notation in his notebook.

"I was heading to his door when I heard the voices. His door was slightly open. I heard two people yelling at each other, their argument seemed intense, I thought one of the voices was female although I couldn't tell for sure, not then."

"How do you know they were arguing? Could you hear what they were saying?"

The moment of truth had come quickly she only hoped she was ready for it. "No, I just heard the loud tone of their voices, it wasn't friendly. I couldn't make the words out so I have no idea what they were saying. I'd decided to go back down when the door opened and Carly stormed out."

Again he made a note, but the shorthand he was using was impossible for her to decipher. She couldn't get a read on him, she couldn't tell if he believed her or not.

"Then what?" Ross prompted.

"I headed back to Ric's room. I heard his voice again and automatically came to a stop. I didn't try to eavesdrop but in the end I couldn't help it. He was saying that the plan was falling apart, that Carly wasn't cooperating anymore. He couldn't get to Morgan and Corinthos in that way." Elizabeth's mind raced desperately trying to make things sound plausible to give him the important information and still shield him from knowing it all.

"He said he'd handle Carly. I heard that and knew I needed to leave, but it was too late. Before I could turn he opened the door. I tried to act like I hadn't heard him that I didn't see the switchblade that he was tucking in his pockets but he saw through me. Before I could scream, before I could run, he caught me and threw me in his room. My head must have hit the table or the bed because I was knocked out," she could still remember the feeling of fear that had raced through her when he grabbed her.

Ross poured her a glass of water, from the half-full pitcher on the table and waited while she drank it down in a long gulp. His expression didn't give anything away. She couldn't tell if he believed her or not, but was grateful for the water.

"When I woke up I was tied up in the closet." Closing her eyes she tried to banish the hellish memory of those hopeless moments when she'd felt like she'd been buried alive. "I finally managed to get free. When I stood up I got dizzy and grabbed at some of the clothes to steady myself, the bar holding them up came crashing to the ground on top of me. That's when I found it."

"Found what?"

"His gun. I'm not sure why I picked it up, but I did. I put it in my pocket and went to look for Carly."

"You didn't try to call the police?"

Jarred by the question Elizabeth shrugged and went back to her memories. "I only had one thing on my mind and that was to warn Carly about Ric. I saw her on the docks, before I could reach her I saw Ric moving up behind her with a knife in his hand." Her voice grew soft, almost reflective. "I don't remember taking the gun out, or pointing at him. I don't even know if I screamed a warning. The next thing I can remember was is the sound. The rumble of the bullet echoing around the dock."

"Is that it?" Ross asked after another minute of silence.

Again his question and his tone jarred her. "That's all there is. I'm vague at what happened next, I think Nikolas went by, then Jason, finally you."

"Let me get this straight," Ross turned back a few pages in his notebook. "You heard Ric Lansing threaten Carly Corinthos, he accosted you leaving you tied up in a closet, and once you got free instead of calling the police you decided to pick up a gun and stop him yourself?"

"It wasn't like that," Elizabeth cried.

~*~*~*~

"She's talking to much isn't she?" Nikolas asked the silent man next to him.

"Yes."

"Isn't there someone you can call for help?" Nikolas had tried to think of whom he could call. With Alexis in the hospital the only other attorneys he knew were the estate lawyers who would be of no help in the current situation. Elizabeth was going to need a criminal attorney and a good one at that. Somehow he thought the man next to him would have a better idea on who was a good criminal attorney.

Jason didn't bother to answer. Calls had already been made, but things were moving to slow. Sonny had been dragging his feet over replacing Alexis and now that decision was one Elizabeth could be paying for. He needed to get her to keep quiet. Even if she was telling the truth it could come back and hurt her. Cops didn't always hear the truth when it was told to them, most seemed to prefer their own version of the truth.

The door to the interrogation room opened and two cops walked out. Both Nikolas and Jason were quiet as they tried to overhear their conversation.

"What did you think?"

"She's lying," Ross stated without hesitation. "Parts of her story were true but she's definitely lying. Keep holding her, I'm going to check out some pieces of her story." Moving past Jason he spared the reputed mobster a glance but didn't say a word in passing.

"Why would she lie?" Nikolas wondered aloud.

Before Jason could answer the interrogation room door opened and Elizabeth appeared in the doorway. Their eyes met for a long minute until she shifted her attention to the officer that had come to alert as soon as she opened the door. "Could I get some more water?" She asked shyly and held out the empty pitcher.

Officer Haggerty took the pitcher from her and then darted an uncomfortable look in the direction of Jason Morgan. Giving Corinthos the heads up about a bust every once and awhile was one thing. It was a safe thing to do, no one could track him if he was careful, and no one ever got hurt. But if he was placed in the position of trying to do a favor for Jason Morgan in the middle of the police station? He shuddered at the thought.

"I'll wait right here," Elizabeth tried again. "The lights make the room so hot I'm parched."

Haggerty reluctantly headed for the water fountain out in the hall, praying with every step that she wouldn't try to escape.

"You go," Jason hissed from the corner of his mouth as soon as Haggerty moved past him. He knew if he moved he'd have five cops focused on him.

Nikolas didn't need to be told twice, moving quickly to Elizabeth he took her hand. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Elizabeth's eyes darted around the room. They were being watched but she didn't think anyone would be able to hear them if she kept her voice low. "I need to see Carly. I have to talk to her before she gives her statement."

His brown eyes flashed briefly in surprise at her odd request but instead of questioning her he merely nodded. "I'll get her the message. Now you need to do me a favor. Don't say anything more to anyone. Not until you talk to a lawyer."

"Move away from the door." Haggerty had dawdled long enough and was heading back with the half-filled water pitcher.

"Remember no more statements." Nikolas demanded before moving back to his chair. Elizabeth gave no sign she heard, she merely took the pitcher and disappeared back inside the room.

"What did she say?" Jason asked as quietly as he could.

"She wants to see Carly, before Carly gives her statement to the police." Nikolas shifted slightly aware of the eyes watching them. "You'll arrange it right?"

Not bothering to reply Jason merely rose and left the police station.

"What do you seen in him Elizabeth?" Nikolas wondered not for the first time.

****

~G.H.~

"Sonny I'm fine," Carly was desperate to reassure him. She had to reassure him because he was beginning to get that look in his eye. The look that meant he was blaming himself for what had happened to her. The look that also meant if she didn't deflect him she wouldn't be able to leave the penthouse without 4 guards for the rest of her pregnancy.

"You almost weren't," Sonny couldn't stop touching her. His dreams, his nightmares, the ones that came so often now, even more so since Carly had announced her pregnancy. The evil from his dreams had almost taken her from him, almost took his child from him, from them both. Somehow he had to break the cycle of losing everything just when he almost had it all.

Carly couldn't help but feel relieved that his focus remained on her and not on who had done this to her. He hadn't started speaking vengeance yet, and she hoped he wouldn't. "Can we go home please?"

"Are you sure?"

"Sonny what I want most is to hug Michael, and then crawl into the tub, hopefully with my handsome husband." Carly's tone turned soft. "Please."

Willing to please her Sonny finally nodded. Taking her hand he turned to head for the elevator. They had only taken a few steps when the silver doors opened and Jason walked through them. Without being aware of it he came to a halt. Confused Carly looked up from her purse where she had been digging for her candy stash. Puzzled when she saw his strange expression she shifted her attention looking for the reason why.

Jason had also come to a stop. He'd thought he was prepared to see Sonny again, but now that it had happened he wasn't sure what to do. Even during the height of the uncomfortableness over Sonny and Carly getting together, or when Sonny had been livid over Zander and by extension Elizabeth there hadn't been this sense of awkwardness that was there between them now. Ignoring it for the moment he focused on the woman beside him.

"Carly are you okay?"

Letting go of her husband she crossed to Jason and gave him a hug. "I'm fine, so is the baby."

Closing his eyes in relief Jason held on a moment longer. "I'm glad."

Sonny hung back to give them a minute. How was he supposed to talk to Jason now? So much had been said between them, not to mention the way it had been said. How could he move past it? For the first time in months he didn't have the knee-jerk feeling of anger he normally did when he saw Jason, instead he opened his eyes and studied his best friend without the clouding sense of anger. In that moment Jason looked weary, and that was surprising. Jason never looked tired. How long had he looked like that?"

"I need your help Carly." Jason finally got the words out.

Stunned Carly could only blink. Jason never asked her for help in fact he did his best to make sure she didn't try to help.

"Elizabeth is at the police station. She wants to see you." He stood there waiting for the explosion he knew had to becoming.

"Why does she want to see me?" Carly's tone was even and she could see the surprise in his eyes.

"Why is Elizabeth at the police station?" Curious Sonny moved closer to get in on the conversation.

Surprised Jason eyed Carly. "You didn't tell him?"

"Not yet," Carly wanted to stamp her foot in frustration but knew that would get her nowhere.

"Carly?" Sonny prompted.

"Elizabeth was the one who shot Ric." Jason informed him coolly. "She shot him because he was trying to kill Carly." His focus moved to Carly. You know that right?" 

"What?" Sonny exploded.

"Ric says Elizabeth was trying to kill me," Carly reminded him choosing to her ignore her volatile husband for the moment.

"You believe that?" Jason snapped.

"Do I look like an idiot?" Carly snapped right back. "I can't stand Elizabeth but I know she wouldn't try to shoot me in the back."

Again Jason closed his eyes in relief. He'd hoped Carly wouldn't let her dislike of Elizabeth blind her to the truth, but with Carly he could never be sure of anything. "Will you see her?"

"Well…"

"You know she wouldn't ask unless it was important, especially not while she's still at the station." Jason pressured her slightly.

"Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?" An irate Sonny finally got their attention.

****

~Kelly's~

Lieutenant Ross studied Lansing's room with a critical eye. One that had already directed forensics to photograph and get a sample of the small bloodstain on the corner of the desk. Moving towards the closet he checked it out again. The bar holding the clothes was on the ground like the Webber girl had claimed. There were also some bungee cords still looped together in a loose knot that could have been used to tie her up as she claimed. There was also an empty lockbox on the floor that could have once held a gun.

So far the evidence was verifying everything Elizabeth Webber had said in her statement, but he was still suspicious. He had the feeling that Elizabeth Webber was lying about something. And if she lied once there was no telling what else she was lying about. He was a patient person, he knew he'd figure it out eventually.

"Lieutenant I think you want to hear this." An officer paused in the open door. When the Lieutenant turned to look, she turned and gestured to the person beside him. "Tell the Lieutenant what you told me."

Ross' eyes sharpened on the blonde that moved in the doorway. "You have something to tell me?"

"I guess I do." Courtney took a step inside the room. "It's about Elizabeth," she hesitated, "and Ric."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

__

I know what the hell is she doing? You won't believe what happens next.


	6. I love it when a plan comes together

Thanks for the continued support it means a lot.

* * *

**Dancing on the Axis  
**  
Chapter 6  
  
**Hospital**  
  
"Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?"  
  
Sonny's angrily delivered question stilled both Jason and Carly who looked at him then back at each other. Neither one seemed to be very eager to tell Sonny all that had happened during the day. In their vastly different ways both were trying to protect him and by extension others, because there was no way to predict how Sonny would react to the news. Sonny's behavior of the last several months could best be defined as erratic or worst borderline Kamikaze.  
  
Carly started to answer then hesitated waiting for Jason to explain things but Jason remained stubbornly silent. It took her a second of curious observation to realize that Jason wasn't just being silent he had withdrawn. The move surprised her. She knew Sonny and him hadn't been getting along but she hadn't realized, until that moment, how bad things had truly gotten between the two best friends.  
  
"I'm waiting."  
  
"We already told you Elizabeth was the one who shot Ric." Carly finally offered a brief explanation that she knew wouldn't satisfy her volatile husband.  
  
"Why would she do that?" Sonny demanded more.  
  
"Because he was coming after me with a knife," she finished and braced for an explosion.  
  
"What the hell do you mean?" Sonny snapped angrily when no one answered him he went on. "Do you mean he had a knife on you?" His anger only spiked when he saw his wife and Jason share another telling look. "Stop doing that and tell me what is going on."  
  
Jason reluctantly faced his partner and was as terse as he could be with his reply. "Elizabeth said Ric had a knife and was going after Carly so she shot him." He turned back to his friend. "She's desperate to see you. Will you come?"  
  
Unsure of Sonny's response Carly hesitated until she saw the please in Jason's eyes, a please Jason couldn't say to her in front of Sonny and her mind was made up. "I'll come."  
  
Surprised by her answer Sonny went to interject. Carly needed to go home and rest the last thing she needed was to have to deal with the police. But the words died unspoken when he saw the expression of relief on Jason's face. First he had recognized the tiredness his friend was obviously feeling and now concern and relief. Either Jason was showing his emotions a lot more easily, or he was finally seeing him through clear eyes. Either way he couldn't help responding to it and to his best friend.  
  
"We better go." Sonny could see the surprise reflected back at him from both their faces and couldn't help feeling a little smug. Apparently they didn't know him as well as they thought they did.  
  
"Right," Jason agreed and led the way to the elevator. "There's a new cop on this case and I want to get her in and out while he's not there."  
  
"What's he like?"  
  
"I don't know other then he's good and I don't trust that." Jason admitted. He never thought he would miss seeing Taggert, but he'd much rather deal with Taggert's in your face attitude then an unknown in a situation like this. Things could possibly turn very bad for Elizabeth and he wanted to have every edge he could to get her through this.  
  
"Does the cop believe Ric's claim that Elizabeth was trying to kill me and he took the bullet to save me?" Carly asked as the elevator doors began to close.  
  
"What?" Sonny's smugness vanished in an instant. Apparently there was a lot he didn't know and he didn't like that.  
  
**Jail  
**  
"Mr. Krianos I don't care what time it is where you are. I expect you to provide me with the information I need as soon as possible if not before." Nikolas spoke briskly into the cell. His tone expressed the fact he expected to be obeyed, not questioned, and even though the man he was addressing was more then 30 years his senior he knew he would be.  
  
_"Mr. Cassadine we are trying to locate the premiere defense counsel on the East Coast, but the name that keeps coming up is Alexis Davis." Uncomfortable Krianos paused to clear his throat before going on. "With your aunt currently in the hospital our search continues."  
_  
"I don't want to hear excuses," Nikolas returned mildly. "I engaged you to find someone for my aunt days ago so this process should have been completed by now. If you had done what you were supposed to I would be speaking with that attorney at the moment instead of you, now wouldn't I?"  
  
_"Mr. Cassadine."_  
  
"I expect you to provide me with a name within the hour and have that person here at the police station within two hours. Am I making myself clear Mr. Krianos?" His voice never rose, no anger entered his tone, yet he knew the whip of his words were devastating to the older man.  
  
_"Yes Mr. Cassadine."  
_  
The sputtered reply fell on deaf ears because Nikolas had already hung up. The phone vanished inside his pocket, his face remained expressionless, giving no chance for anyone in the squad room to pick up on his true feelings of anger. Image was something he learned at an early age and once bred inside someone you couldn't turn it off. So though his focus remained on the interrogation room that housed his friend his calmness gave nothing away.  
  
For the first time in months his focus had been on someone else and because of that his thinking was much clearer. The last year had been unsettling, to say the least, and he hadn't handled the upheaval very well. He did well when it came to rules, guidelines, but there had been no rules of etiquette for him to follow when his long dead father returned from the grave to cause further murder and mayhem. If there was one ironclad fact about Nikolas Cassadine it was that he knew the proper etiquette for every situation but the ones he faced in the last year defied logic and explanation.  
  
In the last year, thanks to his father and Grandmother, he'd had his control stripped from him, and as a result of that, when he got it back he was determined never to have his control taken from him again. Because of that vow he had lost everything else in his life. Gia was gone, Elizabeth had ceased speaking to him, Lucky and his relationship had deteriorated to the fractious days of when they first knew each other. Even Stefan, Alexis and Emily, his oldest friend, had been shunted to the side. He lost the people he loved, the people he cared for but he had held onto his control and wasn't that the most important thing? After all image was everything especially in the Cassadine world. Well that and power and he had both, he just didn't have anything or anyone else in his life anymore.  
  
Helena would have been very proud of the man he'd turned into over the last year, and even though that thought made him physically ill he couldn't seem to pull himself out of the downward spiral he had succumbed to.  
  
The afternoon had changed things, however. The rumble of gunfire on a nearly abandoned dock changed his insular world the instant the sound faded. Since realizing Elizabeth's role in the shooting he had new focus, a new resolve to cling to. His desire was to help Elizabeth and perhaps in a small way himself as well. Perhaps he would be able to stop turning into the Cassadine leader he always feared he would. Perhaps that part of the Cassadine heritage could be locked inside of him again. Perhaps the darkness would fade while he concentrated on helping a friend. Perhaps.  
  
Was it selfish to look at her trouble as something that could help him? Perhaps. But it wouldn't change his actions in any respect. He would have helped Elizabeth regardless, but now there was an additional sense of urgency driving him. And that urgency was only heightened because of the current quietness of the police station. He may not be an expert on police stations or proper procedures but he had a feeling that when one was trying to have a clandestine meeting it was advisable to have it when there were fewer potential witnesses around. The fact Jason had yet to return with Carly for said illicit meeting annoyed him in a way that was similar to the annoyance he felt over everything Jason did.  
  
**Kelly's**  
  
"That was a very interesting recitation Mrs. Quartermaine." Lt. Ross murmured when the blonde finally fell quiet.  
  
"I merely answered your questions." Courtney was coy in her response. It wouldn't do to appear too eager to tell what she knew. She knew that the reason people got caught in a lie was because they didn't maintain the same image with everyone. There was no way she was going to make that mistake. She needed to be consistent and appear reluctant to answer questions with everyone.  
  
"Like I said it's an interesting story." Lt. Ross remained firm in his opinion. "If you'll wait downstairs for me I'll take you back to the station so you can give a formal statement for the record."  
  
"Do I have to?" Courtney feigned reluctance.  
  
"Yes," he smiled suddenly and the move lightened his whole expression. "Just continue to tell the truth and we won't have any problems. Now please wait downstairs."  
  
Nodding Courtney headed for the stairs. By the time she was finished Elizabeth would be looking at serious jail time and she couldn't be happier. She would teach Elizabeth what happened, when someone tried to come between her and the man she'd decided to love. If she played her cards right Jason would see the truth about Elizabeth as well, and when he came crawling around begging her to take him back, she would, after he crawled enough.  
  
"Do you buy her story?" A loitering officer asked the Lieutenant once the blonde disappeared from view.  
  
"I don't know. Some of it sounded truthful but I have the feeling she has an agenda," Ross responded with a thoughtful look.  
  
"The evidence we've found so far corroborates what Eliz-Ms. Webber stated." The officer hoped he caught himself in time. It wouldn't do for the new Lieutenant to realize he knew the accused, if Ross found out he might get yanked from the case. There were rumors already swirling about the new arrival to the Port Charles Police force and those rumors weren't the pleasant kind.  
  
"The evidence can also be construed to corroborate what Mrs. Quartermaine just told us." Ross reminded the officer and headed from the room.  
  
Officer Johnson studied the room and hoped that Elizabeth's story was the truth and not the other waitress's. He had known Elizabeth, at least peripherally, for years now due to his continued patronage of Kelly's and he couldn't help but hope she would get out of this fix.  
  
**Jail**  
  
By the 119th circuit of the 8x10 room Elizabeth was nothing but nerves. Impatience practically shimmered around her, as one thought after another raced through her mind. Of those thoughts two were the most recurring. One was about Ric, and wondering if he was okay or if she would be charged with his murder. The other was her desire to speak with Carly before the cops did. Both needs were of equal importance if for different reasons.  
  
Of primary importance was the fact she didn't want to be a murderer. It was simply something she never thought she would ever be and wasn't sure she could handle it if in fact Ric died and she became one. Even though she knew she had only fired the gun to save Carly, she would still be a killer if he died. The law might excuse what she did, people might even forgive her, but that didn't mean she would ever be able to forgive herself. No matter what Ric had done in the past and what he had been intending to do he was still a human being and it wasn't right for her to take his life from him.  
  
Once there had been a time that she had considered killing someone. A time she had dreamed of killing a man. She had even lashed out once in an attempt to cause death and had ended up hurting a person she loved instead. Eventually when she found herself holding a gun on the man she'd dreamed of murdering, her rapist, she hadn't been able to pull the trigger. She hadn't been able to take the life of the monster that had robbed her of a dream of how life could be and left her with wounds that would never fully heal. If she had pulled the trigger then it would have been cold-blooded murder and she wasn't capable of that.  
  
Circuit 125 was much like every one before it, the only change was the subject matter racing through her head. Every time she passed the window she could see Nikolas sitting in one of the rusted out metal chairs that normally held handcuffed prisoners. The sight wasn't comical yet at times it brought a slight smile to her face. He looked so out of place out there among the cops, hookers and junkies and yet at the same time he seemed to fit in.  
  
It surprised her that he continued to wait around when there was no clear indication of when or if she might be released from her "voluntary" custody, but she wasn't about to ask him to leave. She had missed Nikolas and the friendship that once existed between them. There had been times during the nightmarish day that's she'd thought she'd seen glimpses of her friend coming from those dark eyes of his, that had been so cold as of late, and she appreciated the sight.  
  
Besides if things continued on the way they had started she was going to need all the friends she could get. In a lot of respects it still seemed unreal to her. The fact she'd shot someone hadn't yet sunk in, it still felt like she was in a dream and all she needed to do was open her eyes and she'd find herself in her own bed. But no matter how many times she pinched her arm she wouldn't wake up, so she guessed that was an answer in itself.  
  
If she wasn't careful her mind would get bogged down in the fact that not only had she shot a person, she had shot him in defense of Carly. She tried to comfort herself by reasoning that she was also protecting Carly's unborn child, but still the concept was still hard for her to swallow.  
  
**Outside  
**  
"I don't know." Officer Haggerty hedged and cursed the fact he'd ever answered his cell when it rang. "I don't mind helping you guys out at times."  
  
"For which you are handsomely paid." Sonny pointed out coolly and couldn't help the distaste that colored his voice. It was bad enough talking to a cop, but talking to a dirty one was something he really didn't like to do.  
  
"I know that." Shifting on his feet Haggerty looked around to make sure no one was witnessing his illicit meeting with the two notorious crime lords of Port Charles. "What your asking me to do now is different then anything else I've done for you. If I do what you want and let Mrs. Corinthos into the room, I'll be risking exposing my," he hesitated over the word, "allegiance to you."  
  
"It wasn't a request." Jason informed him coldly.  
  
Shaking his head at the threat and the predicament he found himself in Haggerty took a step back and gauged the distance from where he was to the relative safety of the station across the street.  
  
Sonny interceded before Jason lost it entirely. "Haggerty you'll do what your told when you're told to do it. You might have thought you called the shots in this deal but you don't. You crossed a line when you became our snitch and there is no going back now. The only way you back out of this arrangement is when we tell you to go not before."  
  
Chastised and fearful Haggerty nodded in agreement. The mobster had just defined his role and it rammed the truth home to him. His work for Sonny Corinthos was no longer merely freelance for some extra money on the side it had become a full-time job. "We better go. Shift change is coming up and we need to have her out by the time the new Lieutenant gets back."  
  
"That reminds me I want everything you can find out about this Lieutenant Ross," Jason ordered before following the others.  
  
One way or another Haggerty was sure his easy money venture was going to end up costing him his job, and possibly his freedom, the dour realization accompanied him across the street.  
  
**Squad Room  
**  
Even though the room was mostly deserted due to the approaching shift change the buzz that surrounded the unexpected entry of two local crime bosses was loud enough to fill the half-full room. It wasn't often that Sonny Corinthos or Jason Morgan voluntarily walked inside the police station. It was even rarer when they came in at the same time and without handcuffs around their wrists.  
  
Word of the unusual happening spread quickly and soon the room began filling with interested observers that normally kept to themselves in other parts of the station. There were several among them that remembered another time Morgan and Corinthos had come in voluntarily. That time had ended with a breakout by murder suspect Brenda Barrett and a fight between Jason Morgan and the former commissioner Mac Scorpio. There had been numerous changes in procedure and policies made since that time to insure a breakdown in security wouldn't happen again. But was any system foolproof?  
  
Rumor had it there was another woman about to be put into custody this one charged with attempted murder. She also had ties to Morgan and Corinthos. Of course there were also rumors that the intended victim of the murder attempt had been Corinthos's wife. In that case the reason to be alert for a breakout was two-fold, both to keep their case intact and also to protect the accused from retribution. So a healthy hum of anticipation hung heavy over the squad as no one was quite sure what would happen next.  
  
It was better then even money that what did happen next was the last thing they could have imagined. The idea of an angry Corinthos or Morgan confrontation had been expected but the general consensus was that confrontation would also involve the police, so when it didn't there was a healthy dose of surprise in the room. However that surprise paled in comparison to the surprise of the onlookers when the confrontation was centered between the two loyal partners as they turned on one another like two rabid dogs.  
  
"This is all your fault. You realize that don't you?" A surprisingly bitter sounding Jason Morgan fired the first shot.  
  
"You're the one who brought Elizabeth around not me." Sonny didn't miss a beat.  
  
"And you're the reason she left me and now look where she is." Jason countered sharply.  
  
Sonny blinked in surprise at the unexpected venom. The hostility he felt coming from Jason seemed very real and it prompted a similar sounding response. "You weren't complaining about me running Elizabeth off when you started fooling around with my sister."  
  
The cops listening in began to murmur at that point.  
  
"Nothing would have ever happened with Courtney if you hadn't ruined my relationship with Elizabeth," Jason spat back while Nikolas began to smirk in enjoyment.  
  
"Well so much for your love for my sister. I guess that tells us how you really feel about her now doesn't it?" Sonny asked. "You should have listened to me and left her the hell alone."  
  
"Listen?" Jason snorted. "Like you give people choices. You're need to control everything and everyone around you until they suffocate have helped to destroy any relationship I try to have before it even starts." The fight that was supposed to be a staged distraction was quickly becoming more. For once Jason was supposed to confront Sonny, to say things he normally ignored, and given the current state of their relationship that could be deadly.  
  
"If your relationship with Courtney fizzled its because of your feelings for Elizabeth not me." Sonny shot back even while his mind raced with the unexpected revelation that Jason and Courtney seemed to be over. "It's not my fault that women don't seem to stay with you."  
  
"Don't give me that. You seem to like it when I have no one in my life but you and Carly so I can do whatever you need done whenever you need it done." Jason leveled another blow at his friend.  
  
"Are you a man Jason or a boy that needs to be told what to do?" Sonny challenged. "You never spoke up and told me what you wanted."  
  
"I did too, but as usual you didn't listen. The only person you ever listen to is yourself and that's why you're in trouble all the time and dragging the people who care about you down with you." Sonny's dart had hit home so Jason responded in kind.  
  
The rapidly escalating fight was interesting enough to watch that Officer Haggerty almost missed the opportunity it provided. At the last second he remembered his role and gestured to the blonde hiding near the door.  
  
Carly had the urge to ignore the call and break up the ugly fight between Sonny and Jason instead. She knew them well enough to know that the words spilling out of them were ones that had been locked inside of them for months. The fight could become brutal and perhaps irreparable if it went on to long. But in the end she followed the plan and headed through the interrogation room door. If they were willing to rip layers of skin from one another she could speak with Elizabeth.  
  
"This better be good." Carly snapped when the door closed behind her.  
  
"I'll make it quick." Elizabeth tore her eyes from the argument in the next room to focus on Carly. "If you have to leave quickly you can go through that door," she gestured to her left. "There's another door that leads to the outside hall. No one will see you go, just turn on the tape recorder as you go by."  
  
Carly let out a snort of disbelief. It figured. Here they put Miss Muffin in an interrogation room and don't even bother to lock her in meaning she could leave anytime she wanted. If she had been the one in the room she was sure that not only would the other door have been locked the room with the tape recorder would have been manned as well. As usual it all came down to people's perception of you. Even though she had shot someone, Elizabeth Webber was still viewed as a goody-goody, while she would always be thought of as a troublemaker, and even though it wasn't Elizabeth's fault she was still angry with her.  
  
"First off I didn't try to kill you. Ric had a knife that he was going to use on you." Elizabeth was oblivious to Carly's less then pleasant realization over how each was viewed by the outside world.  
  
"How could you possibly know that?" Carly wanted to move closer, to demand answers, to treat this like any other confrontation but she was forced to stay where she was. She had to stay in front of the door so the cops in the other room couldn't see her. She didn't like not being able to prowl around it made her feel like she was holding a weaker hand.  
  
"I was at Kelly's in Ric's room, I heard everything." Taking a seat Elizabeth kept her back to the window so no one could see she was speaking.  
  
"What do you mean you heard everything?" Suddenly nervous Carly's need to prowl grew.  
  
"I was tied up in the closet when you confronted Ric in his room. I made the noise you heard." Elizabeth darted a look in Carly's direction and could see the look of disbelief on the blonde's face.  
  
"What do you mean?" Carly tried to sound snotty but was jarred by the unexpected revelation.  
  
"I overheard your fight with Ric and once you left I saw Ric retrieve a knife, I think he would have gotten the gun if it hadn't been in the closet with me," Elizabeth realized uneasily and shook the thought away. "When he left he made reference to the fact he was going to shut you up so you wouldn't mess up his plan."  
  
"I don't believe you." Forgetting herself Carly stepped forward only to stop when she saw the bruising and bandage on Elizabeth's face. "What the hell happened to you?"  
  
Confused by the question it took a minute for Elizabeth to figure out what it meant, touching her face she felt the crisp bandage under her fingers and knew. "Ric caught me eavesdropping and threw me through the door, I hit my head on something and blacked out, that's when he put me in the closet."  
  
Carly tried to make sense of what Elizabeth was saying. She could normally spot a liar or a con, even if she didn't want to admit it, and she wasn't getting that vibe from Elizabeth. She was coming to believe that what Elizabeth was saying was the truth and that only made her more uneasy. "What did you overhear that made him snap like that?"  
  
"We don't have time to get into this." Elizabeth shifted to look in the other room to see if they were being watched but most everyone's attention remained on a still arguing Jason and Sonny. "All I can say is that Ric has an agenda where Sonny and Jason are concerned and he was using you to further his plan."  
  
"What kind of plan?" Unwilling to bend, to give an inkling of her unease, Carly crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Elizabeth.  
  
"Carly we don't have time for this." Patience gone Elizabeth met the glare with one of her own. "We need to talk about what you should and shouldn't tell the police, and what I've told them. I know what he did to you, I probably know better then most what he did, but I'm not going to say a word."  
  
Puzzled by the cryptic remark Carly forgot herself entirely and sat in the chair next to Elizabeth. "What do you think he did to me?"  
  
"One drink and your out does that sound normal to you?" Elizabeth asked. "Is that normally what happens when you drink alcohol? Do you always black out with absolutely no memories of what happened?"  
  
Unsettled Carly didn't know how to reply. Elizabeth didn't understand the war that had been raging inside of her ever since that morning she woke up next to Ric. From the beginning she knew that something bad had happened, but at the same time she couldn't be positive. Her track record when it came to men wasn't exactly something to brag about. And it only got worse when she was in pain. When she was in pain or hurt she'd do something destructive to lash out at others. Who was to say she hadn't gotten bombed and decided to sleep with Ric in an effort to punish Sonny?  
  
Elizabeth could see that Carly was lost in an unpleasant memory but had to move her along. She didn't know how much time they had left and there was still so much to say. "I wanted you to know that all I told the police was I overheard an argument between you and Ric but couldn't make out what you were saying and then you stormed out. Then I moved closer and heard Ric on the phone where he threatened you and he caught me and tied me up while he went after you."  
  
"Why are you telling me this?" Carly was suspicious of any sort of unasked for favor.  
  
"I wanted you to know what I told the police so you would have time to think up a legitimate sounding reason why Ric would try to kill you. I wanted to give you time since we can't use the real reason why he was after you."  
  
Though the actual words, Ric's claim of sleeping with an inebriated Carly, remained unsaid both women were well aware they lay just under the surface.  
  
"Are you going to be the one blackmailing me now?" In a defensive move she stood and glared down at the other woman.  
  
"No." Insulted Elizabeth got to her feet and met Carly's attack. "I just wanted to give you the heads up but now I don't know why I even bothered."  
  
"Why should I believe you?" Carly hissed. "You don't like me, I don't like you, why would you want to help me?"  
  
"Your baby." Elizabeth offered simply. "Your baby deserves to have two parents who love each other and love the child with no reservations."  
  
"Sonny loves my baby." Carly was vehement. Ric claimed they had slept together and who was to say they hadn't after all it had happened before. Michael had been conceived in one drunken night with AJ when she'd thought she'd lost Tony for good. Was it possible that this child had also been conceived in a drunken night when she thought she'd lost Sonny to Brenda? She didn't want to believe it was true, wouldn't let herself believe it was true, but the doubt still lingered.  
  
"Good he'll make an excellent father." Carly's desperate anger made Elizabeth feel calmer then she'd felt in hours.  
  
Before Carly could respond a soft knock sounded on the door and she knew her time was up. Her time may have been up but she hadn't made up her mind if she believed Elizabeth and could trust her not to say anything. She wasn't a person that trusted easily, especially not a woman, and a formal rival to boot, and that was exactly what she was being asked to do.  
  
"You better go." Elizabeth urged and looked back through the slats of the blinds in the window looking for trouble, there seemed to be more cops outside then there had been. "We can talk more once I'm out, either you believe me or you don't. The next move is yours."  
  
A crash coming from the squad room startled them both and propelled Carly towards the door Elizabeth had pointed out to her earlier. In the doorway she hesitated then turned back. "Bobbie told me Ric is going to make a full recovery so don't let the cops play any head games with you." Before Elizabeth had a chance to reply she disappeared inside the other room.  
  
**Squad Room**  
  
Officer Haggerty sighed in relief when Mrs. Corinthos finally disappeared from view. As far as he could tell no one had noticed that Elizabeth Webber had even had a visitor, maybe his career wasn't over with yet.  
  
Nikolas's seat provided him a ringside view of both the entertaining argument as well as the meeting occurring inside the interrogation room. He let out a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding when Carly disappeared from sight. Jason might have been late but it appeared his plan had worked and had some amusing side benefits as well.  
  
"What is going on here?" Lt. Ross didn't raise his voice but the question traveled the room like a bullet and brought the din of noise to a screeching halt.  
  
Unreasonably angry it took Jason a moment to realize who was speaking. The last several minutes had been strange for him. He had been forced to behave in a way he didn't normally behave. He'd been forced to deliberately argue and find fault with Sonny and pick at him the way Sonny and Carly normally picked at each other. The experience had been strangely liberating. Like some sort of weight had been lifted from him because he'd finally said things instead of just ignoring them until they went away. One instance of lashing out would hardly change who he was, but perhaps if he didn't continually ignore how he really felt about things he could let some of his anger out without using his fists.  
  
Sonny was pissed. It was an ugly word to use to describe how he was feeling but it was an accurate one. The distraction had obviously worked since he couldn't see Carly with Elizabeth and no officer had intervened in their fight, but that knowledge wasn't satisfying. Fighting with Jason when Jason was willing to fight back left a bitter taste in his mouth. They hadn't been getting along for weeks, even months now, but none of their mini-confrontations had been anything like the last several minutes. He knew Jason didn't like to lie or to make up things on the spot that meant the words Jason had shouted at him were words and accusations he had been wanting to say for a long time now, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that.  
  
"Would anyone like to tell me what is going on here? You, talk." Ross picked the detective who was the only one in the room not to jump and pretend to be busy.  
  
Detective Alex Garcia took the time to stretch, to work the kinks out of his neck, before finally standing and giving a lazy reply. "Morgan and Corinthos here were having a disagreement. We were doing our civic duty by listening to them in case one of them let it slip where Jimmy Hoffa is buried."  
  
The cops in the room began to laugh only to stop when the Lieutenant glared at them.  
  
Garcia's blatant demeanor of dislike surprised Ross. He was used to people jumping when he glared at them but so far Garcia hadn't jumped or tried to suck up. There was an ongoing test of wills between the men to see which one would be the first to blink.  
  
"Sonny I'm tired of waiting in the car. I want to go home." Carly decided it was time to make her presence known and interrupt the pissing contest of the two alpha males at the same time.  
  
"Mrs. Corinthos," Ross turned to look her over. "I thought you were giving your statement tomorrow."  
  
"I am." Carly responded flatly. "The only reason we stopped was so Sonny could get an update on what happened. You won't be hearing from me until tomorrow."  
  
"I see." Ross refused to give more of a response then that and signaled to an officer that was waiting in the hall. "Bring her in."  
  
"Courtney." Sonny was the first to spot the new arrival. "What are you doing here?"  
  
Swallowing hard Courtney stepped forward and knew the sudden paleness of her complexion hadn't been planned on her part. She hadn't expected to find Sonny, Carly and worse Jason at the police station. Their presence meant her act was going to have to be perfect and since she'd only thought up her story less then an hour ago, she wasn't sure she could pull it off.  
  
"Why are you arresting my sister?" Sonny demanded answers from the unfamiliar cop. He might be at odds with Courtney at the moment but any threat to his family, perceived or otherwise, wouldn't be tolerated.  
  
"Do you see handcuffs on her Mr. Corinthos?" Ross tsked with a raised brow.  
  
With that sarcastic remark Sonny took an instant dislike to the man that had more to do then just him being a cop.  
  
In a calculated move designed to irritate and infuriate Ross turned his back on the mobster and addressed Courtney. "Take a seat Mrs. Quartermaine and Officer Johnson will take your statement. Just tell him what you told me."  
  
Nodding Courtney trailed the officer to the desk.  
  
"What statement could Courtney give that would have anything to do with this?" Jason wanted to know. For some reason he felt uneasy. He wasn't sure what Courtney had to offer about the shooting but his instincts were telling him that whatever she had to say wouldn't be good. Elizabeth's accusations about Courtney's true character were coming back to him along with the memory of her vindictiveness earlier that day.  
  
Ross sidestepped the question by turning to Carly. "We'll see you tomorrow Mrs. Corinthos." Ignoring the mob bosses he walked past them and into the interrogation room.  
  
"Where the hell is Taggert?" Carly spoke the words no one else seemed willing to say and didn't notice how Nikolas flinched at her question.  
  
"I take it the show is over?" Nikolas joined the tight little group beside the railing that separated the doorway from the main room.  
  
"What are you still doing here?" Jason's distaste at seeing him was evident.  
  
"I could ask you the same thing. You delivered Carly like Elizabeth asked you to, there's no reason for you to hang around." Nikolas's tone was cool and meant to provoke a response.  
  
"Will you two knock it off." Carly snapped. "The person I'm curious about is Courtney. Why is she here?" She headed for her sister-in-law only to be waylaid by Garcia. "Move."  
  
"Sorry until you've given your statement you can't be a witness to another statement." Garcia smiled when she glared at him and stalked off. It had taken considerable effort on his part but he had managed to appear unaffected by what had transpired during the day shift. When he heard Elizabeth Webber had been brought in under suspicion of attempted murder he'd almost laughed out loud. Ross certainly missed the boat on that decision.  
  
The new Lieutenant and him hadn't gotten along from the start. Part of the reason for the dislike probably stemmed from the fact that he hadn't been promoted when Taggert returned to New York City. Instead of promoting from within they had went out and hired a supposed hotshot from Philadelphia. So far he hadn't been impressed by what Ross had to offer, but he was smart enough to tell that Ross sure knew how to play the game. He been in town less then a month and already knew which ass's to kiss in order to secure his next step up the success ladder.  
  
That step was going to get blown apart by this case. Arresting Elizabeth Webber, if in fact it came to that, would be one pitfall that Ross wouldn't be able to avoid. He knew Elizabeth and there was no way she'd try to kill someone, especially not Carly. He knew they didn't get along. He'd witnessed some of their arguments and it seemed to him that the two women got off on the confrontations. So the idea of Elizabeth snapping and trying to kill her was ludicrous.  
  
Another thing that was stupid would be to buy the staged fight between Corinthos and Morgan. The taunts the men were tossing at each other might have been true but they were already huddled up and acting buddy, buddy, so the idea of a serious rift between the two was laughable. He had a feeling Ross was in the process of being played and as far as he was concerned it couldn't happen to a more deserving guy.  
  
**Interrogation Room**  
  
"I just have a few more questions Ms. Webber." Ross made a show of looking at his notebook. "You said you were involved with Mr. Lansing is that correct?"  
  
"We went out a few times but I wouldn't call us involved." Elizabeth corrected him.  
  
"Oh come now Ms. Webber you visited daily when he was in the hospital then helped him care for his wounds when he checked out early. Do you expect me to believe you would make that sort of effort for a stranger?"  
  
"I didn't say I considered Ric a stranger I just said we went out a few times, it was nothing serious." Elizabeth explained their lack of relationship for the 5th time.  
  
"Was it serious enough for you to react badly when you found out he was seeing someone else on the side?" Ross dropped his first bombshell and caught her off-guard.  
  
**Squad Room  
**  
"I accidentally let it slip to Elizabeth that I had seen Ric out with another woman. Some blonde I didn't even recognize. Elizabeth didn't take the news very well. In fact she got angry even violent." Courtney gestured to the mark on her cheek.  
  
"Ms. Webber hit you?" Officer Johnson asked for clarification.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"When was this?"  
  
"Right before she stormed up the stairs to confront Ric." Courtney affected a brilliant shiver of unease.  
  
**Room  
**  
"I wasn't jealous, merely surprised." Elizabeth corrected the cop.  
  
"Do you mean you didn't stomp upstairs to confront Ric after hearing he'd been out with some blonde?"  
  
"Well, yes I did." Elizabeth admitted then immediately tried to clarify her answer. "It wasn't like you're making it sound. I just wanted to hear the truth from him."  
  
"Did that truth you wanted to hear also include slapping Courtney Quartermaine?" Ross dropped the next bomb.  
  
"Yes. I mean no," she began to get tripped up. "I mean that wasn't why I hit her."  
  
"So you admit to striking Mrs. Quartermaine?" Ross pounced.  
  
"Yes I hit her but the reason why was..."  
  
"Do you consider yourself a violent person?"  
  
"What?" Jarred by the rapidly shifting questions she could only stare.  
  
**Squad  
**  
"Be quiet Elizabeth." Nikolas urged from his spot in the other room. "She's talking again, she promised me she wouldn't do that."  
  
"What the hell could Courtney know?" Carly wondered aloud.  
  
"Does it matter?" Jason asked sharply. "She hates Elizabeth so whatever she says won't be good."  
  
"I hate Elizabeth and I haven't done any damage." Carly reminded him tartly. "Courtney has no reason to say anything negative about Elizabeth. You and her are over, and you and Courtney are together now."  
  
"She has a reason now," Jason admitted. "I broke up with Courtney today and my continued feelings for Elizabeth were a factor and she knows that."  
  
"Shit." Carly snarled for more then one reason.  
  
Curiosity aroused by the by-play Sonny drifted across the room until he was in earshot of Courtney. What he heard surprised him.  
  
"After Elizabeth hit me she went upstairs. A few minutes later Carly came down and left, not long after that Ric followed." Courtney hesitated to make sure her story was the same it had been the hour before and also to feign reluctance.  
  
"Go on." Johnson urged.  
  
"I heard some crashing coming from upstairs then Elizabeth hurried down the stairs. I saw her tucking a gun in her sweater."  
  
"Did she say anything to you?"  
  
"She said where did that bitch go?" Courtney mimicked Elizabeth. "She didn't wait for an answer just left. After that I realized that when I told her I'd seen Ric with a blonde she must have thought that blonde was Carly. Which is totally ridiculous since Carly is happily married and her and Ric only worked together for a few weeks. Somehow Elizabeth must have gotten the wrong idea when she saw them speaking upstairs."  
  
"What happened next?"  
  
"I tried calling Jason. I couldn't get the thought of the gun out of my head and I figured he would tell me I was crazy to be worried, but I couldn't reach him." Courtney forced a tear to her eye. "I never dreamed Elizabeth would snap like that. It's all my fault. If I hadn't told her about seeing Ric with another woman she never would have tired to murder Carly in cold blood."  
  
**Room**  
  
"You don't like Carly Corinthos do you?"  
  
Again he had changed tracks and again she lost her rhythm. "We're not friends if that's what you mean."  
  
"I'd say that's an understatement." Ross flipped to another page in his notebook. "You've had several loud arguments with Mrs. Corinthos for years now. The most recent of which was at a wake a little over a week ago isn't that correct?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"So I'm correct in saying that if something happened to Carly Corinthos you wouldn't be broken up over it now would you?"  
  
"No you're not correct. I may not like Carly but I certainly wouldn't want her injured or dead." Elizabeth huffed angrily.  
  
"Not even when you found out Ric had a blonde on the side and you believed it was Carly?"  
  
Elizabeth could only sputter in shock.  
  
**Squad  
**  
"We may have a problem." Sonny joined the others and kept his voice low. "With what Courtney is saying it doesn't look good for Elizabeth." He quickly filled them in on what he'd overheard.  
  
Carly sent a speculative look in Courtney's direction.  
  
"Why am I not surprised?" Nikolas asked when Sonny finished then checked his watch. Krianos's deadline was fast approaching.  
  
"Get Elizabeth a lawyer and tell her to shut the hell up." Carly turned back to the others with a purpose and earned surprised looks from the men.  
  
"Too bad Alexis is in the hospital." Nikolas commented while glaring at Sonny.  
  
Carly rolled her eyes in disgust. "A lawyer who isn't nuts would be a good start. Elizabeth is going to need help and not from the straightjacketed. What?" She snapped at her husband when he continued to stare at her.  
  
"I'm surprised you want to help her." Sonny answered.  
  
"I'm not a monster or stupid. Elizabeth didn't try to kill me." Carly retorted. "But if she doesn't shut her trap she'll soon be arrested for it."  
  
**Room**  
  
"I've had enough of this. I've answered all of your questions and tolerated your insults." Elizabeth got to her feet. "Either arrest me or let me go."  
  
Ross rose as well pointed to her seat and waited for her to sit before turning to go into the back room where an assistant district attorney was waiting. "Well what do you think?"  
  
Duncan "The Rattler" Attler continued to study the woman through the mirror. Her wholesome look would play well with a jury but she seemed to have a temper. If he could trick her into letting it out that should counter her appearance. Besides there were her dubious friendships to consider. "Are you sure the information is solid?"  
  
"Yes. And if I had any doubts before they're gone now. Did you notice she never once asked how Lansing is? He could be dead and she doesn't seem to care. That type of coldness is necessary when you want to commit a murder of this type." Ross waited another minute. "Do I arrest her or not?"  
  
**Squad  
**  
Carly waited for Courtney to sign her statement and step away from the officer before grabbing her arm and pulling her to the side. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"  
  
"Telling the truth."  
  
"Don't give me that crap." Carly was anything but nice. "Sonny told me what you said to the cops. What were you thinking?"  
  
"Relax I'm taking care of things in fact I'm protecting you." Courtney's answer was smug.  
  
"How do you figure that?"  
  
"I told her I saw Ric with a blonde but didn't say it was you." Courtney explained. "Don't you see if Elizabeth clings to her story that she shot Ric when he was trying to kill you, you'll be in trouble. The cops as well as Sonny and probably Jason will dig into the past to try to figure out why Ric was trying to kill you. That won't be good for you or for the baby. By telling the cops that Elizabeth was jealous of a blonde and lashed out because she thought you were the other woman the cops won't dig. No one will dig and the truth of what Ric did to you won't come out. The cops believe Elizabeth shot Ric while aiming for you in a jealous rage. Now do you see how I'm helping you?"  
  
Carly could only stare at her in shock.  
  
"Something's happening." Nikolas's voice was loud and it carried through the squad room.  
  
The interrogation room door swung open, Ross led Elizabeth outside and flagged down a female officer. "Book her on one count attempted murder, one count reckless endangerment, and one count assault with a deadly weapon."  
  
Courtney turned to Carly with a smug look on her face. It had worked.


End file.
